Jamaica Bay
Encyclopedia
Jamaica Bay is located on the southwestern tip of Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...

 in the boroughs of Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

 and Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....

, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, and the town of Hempstead, New York
Town of Hempstead, New York
Hempstead is one of the three towns in Nassau County, New York, United States, occupying the southwest part of the county. There are twenty-two incorporated villages completely or partially in the town. Hempstead's combined population was 759,757 at the 2010 Census, the majority of the population...

/hamlet of Inwood
Inwood, New York
Inwood is a hamlet and census-designated place in Nassau County, New York, United States. The population was 9,792 at the 2010 census.Inwood is included among the Five Towns, an informal grouping of villages and hamlets in Nassau County on the South Shore of western Long Island adjoining the...

. The bay connects with Lower New York Bay
New York Bay
New York Bay is the collective term for the marine areas surrounding the entrance of the Hudson River into the Atlantic Ocean. Its two largest components are Upper New York Bay and Lower New York Bay, which are connected by The Narrows...

 to the west through Rockaway Inlet
Rockaway Inlet
Rockaway Inlet is a strait connecting Jamaica Bay, wholly within New York City, with the Atlantic Ocean. It separates the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens from the Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn....

 and is the westernmost of the coastal lagoons on the south shore of Long Island.

Maps of the city as late as 1910 identify the bay as Grassy Bay. Jamaica Bay is located adjacent to the confluence of the New York Bight
New York Bight
The New York Bight is a slight indentation along the Atlantic coast of the United States, extending northeasterly from Cape May Inlet in New Jersey to Montauk Point on the eastern tip of Long Island...

 and New York Bay, and is at the turning point of the primarily east-west oriented coastline of New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

 and Long Island and the north-south oriented coastline of the mid-Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

 coast. The name derives from "Yameco," a corruption of a word in the Lenape language spoken by the Native Americans
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

 who lived in the area during first European contact. The "y" sound in English is spelled with a "j" in Dutch, the first Europeans to write about the area. This resulted in the eventual English pronunciation of "Jamaica" when read and repeated orally.

Ecology

The location of Jamaica Bay combined with the rich food resources found there make it a regionally important fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

, wildlife, and plant habitat complex. This geographic location acts to concentrate marine and estuarine
Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....

 species migrating between the New York Bight portion of the North Atlantic, and the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...

 and Raritan River
Raritan River
The Raritan River is a major river of central New Jersey in the United States. Its watershed drains much of the mountainous area of the central part of the state, emptying into the Raritan Bay on the Atlantic Ocean.-Description:...

 estuary. Shorebirds, raptor
Bird of prey
Birds of prey are birds that hunt for food primarily on the wing, using their keen senses, especially vision. They are defined as birds that primarily hunt vertebrates, including other birds. Their talons and beaks tend to be relatively large, powerful and adapted for tearing and/or piercing flesh....

s, waterfowl
Waterfowl
Waterfowl are certain wildfowl of the order Anseriformes, especially members of the family Anatidae, which includes ducks, geese, and swans....

, landbirds, and various migratory insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...

s are concentrated by the coastlines in both directions. These migratory species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 are further concentrated by the surrounding urban development into the remaining open space and open water of Jamaica Bay. Jamaica Bay and nearby Breezy Point
Breezy Point, Queens
Breezy Point is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens, located on the western end of the Rockaway peninsula, between Rockaway Inlet and Jamaica Bay on the landward side, and the Atlantic Ocean. The neighborhood is governed by Queens Community Board 14...

 support seasonal or year-round populations of over 330 species of special emphasis and listed species, incorporating 48 species of fish and 120 species of birds.

Area description

Jamaica Bay is a saline
Salinity
Salinity is the saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water. It is a general term used to describe the levels of different salts such as sodium chloride, magnesium and calcium sulfates, and bicarbonates...

 to brackish, eutrophic (nutrient-rich) estuary covering about 25000 acres (101.2 km²), with a mean depth of 13 feet (4 m), a semidiurnal tidal range averaging 4.9 ft (1.5 m), and a residence time of about three weeks. The bay communicates with Lower New York Bay and the Atlantic Ocean via Rockaway Inlet, a high current area that is 0.6 mi (0.965604 km) wide at its narrowest point, with an average depth of 23 ft (7 m). Measurements taken during recent surveys in Jamaica Bay indicate average yearly ranges for temperature of 34 to 79 °F (1.1 to 26.1 C), salinity of 20.5 to 26 parts per thousand, dissolved oxygen of 3.5 to 18.5 milligrams/liter, and pH of 6.8 to 9. Loadings of nutrients and organic matter into the bay from sewage treatment
Sewage treatment
Sewage treatment, or domestic wastewater treatment, is the process of removing contaminants from wastewater and household sewage, both runoff and domestic. It includes physical, chemical, and biological processes to remove physical, chemical and biological contaminants...

 plants and runoff result in phytoplankton
Phytoplankton
Phytoplankton are the autotrophic component of the plankton community. The name comes from the Greek words φυτόν , meaning "plant", and πλαγκτός , meaning "wanderer" or "drifter". Most phytoplankton are too small to be individually seen with the unaided eye...

 blooms and high suspended-solid
Suspended solids
Suspended solids refers to small solid particles which remain in suspension in water as a colloid or due to the motion of the water. It is used as one indicator of water quality....

 concentrations which, in turn, result in turbid water
Turbidity
Turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by individual particles that are generally invisible to the naked eye, similar to smoke in air. The measurement of turbidity is a key test of water quality....

 and low bottom dissolved oxygen concentrations.

Jamaica Bay is in the middle of the New York metropolitan area, and the uplands around the bay, as well as much of the Rockaway barrier beach, are dominated by urban residential, commercial, and industrial development. The bay itself has been disturbed by dredging, filling, and development, including the construction of John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...

 and, earlier, the historic (and now defunct) Floyd Bennett Field
Floyd Bennett Field
Floyd Bennett Field is New York City's first municipal airport. While no longer used as an operational commercial, military or general aviation airfield, the New York Police Department still flies its helicopters from its heliport base there...

. About 49 of the original 65 km2 (12,000 of the original 16,000 acres) of wetlands in the bay have been filled in, mostly around the perimeter of the bay. Extensive areas of the bay have been dredged for navigation channels and to provide fill for the airport
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...

s and other construction projects.

The center of the bay is dominated by subtidal
Tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....

 open water and extensive low-lying islands with areas of salt marsh, intertidal flats, and uplands important for colonial nesting waterbirds. The average mean low tide exposes 350 acres (1.4 km²) of mudflat
Mudflat
Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats, are coastal wetlands that form when mud is deposited by tides or rivers. They are found in sheltered areas such as bays, bayous, lagoons, and estuaries. Mudflats may be viewed geologically as exposed layers of bay mud, resulting from deposition of...

, 940 acres (3.8 km²) of low salt marsh dominated by low marsh cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora
Spartina alterniflora
Spartina alterniflora is a perennial deciduous grass which is found in intertidal wetlands, especially estuarine salt marshes. It grows 1-1.5 m tall, and has smooth, hollow stems which bear leaves up to 20-60 cm long and 1.5 cm wide at their base, which are sharply tapered and bend down...

), and 520 acres (2.1 km²) of high marsh dominated by high marsh cordgrass (Spartina patens
Spartina patens
Spartina patens , also known as salt marsh hay, is a species of cordgrass native to the Atlantic coast of the Americas, from Newfoundland south along the eastern United States to the Caribbean and northeast Mexico...

). The extensive intertidal areas are rich in food resources, including a variety of benthic invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...

s and macroalgae dominated by sea lettuce
Sea lettuce
The sea lettuces comprise the genus Ulva, a group of edible green algae that is widely distributed along the coasts of the world's oceans. The type species within the genus Ulva is Ulva lactuca Linnaeus, "lactuca" meaning lettuce...

 (Ulva latuca). These rich food resources attract a variety of fish, shorebirds, and waterfowl. In addition, two freshwater impoundments were created on Rulers Bar Hassock in the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge is a wildlife refuge in New York City that is managed by the National Park Service as part of the Gateway National Recreation Area....

; the smaller 49 acre (0.19829614 km²) freshwater West Pond is kept as open water, and the larger 120 acre (0.4856232 km²) slightly brackish East Pond is controlled to expose mudflats. Some of the island
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

s in the bay have upland communities, including grassland
Grassland
Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...

s consisting of little bluestem
Little bluestem
Schizachyrium scoparium, commonly known as little bluestem or beard grass, is a North American prairie grass. Little bluestem is a perennial bunchgrass and is prominent in tallgrass prairie, along with big bluestem , indiangrass and switchgrass...

 (Schizachyrium scoparium), switchgrass
Switchgrass
Panicum virgatum, commonly known as switchgrass, is a perennial warm season bunchgrass native to North America, where it occurs naturally from 55°N latitude in Canada southwards into the United States and Mexico...

 (Panicum virgatum), and seaside goldenrod
Goldenrod
Solidago, commonly called goldenrods, is a genus of about 100 species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Most are herbaceous perennial species found in the meadows and pastures, along roads, ditches and waste areas in North America. There are also a few species native to Mexico, South...

 (Solidago sempivirens); scrub-shrub containing bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica), beach plum
Beach plum
Prunus maritima is a species of plum native to the Atlantic coast of North America, from Maine south to Maryland. Although sometimes listed as extending to New Brunswick, the species is not known from collections there, and does not appear in the most authoritative works on the flora of that...

 (Prunus maritima), sumac
Sumac
Sumac is any one of approximately 250 species of flowering plants in the genus Rhus and related genera, in the family Anacardiaceae. Sumacs grow in subtropical and temperate regions throughout the world, especially in Africa and North America....

 (Rhus spp.), and poison ivy (Toxidendron radicans); developing woodland
Woodland
Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...

 consisting of hackberry (Celtis occidentalis), willow
Willow
Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...

 (Salix spp.), black cherry
Black Cherry
Prunus serotina, commonly called black cherry, wild black cherry, rum cherry, or mountain black cherry, is a woody plant species belonging to the genus Prunus...

 (Prunus serotina), and tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima); and beachgrass (Ammophila breviligulata
Ammophila breviligulata
Ammophila breviligulata is a species of grass that is native to eastern North America, where it grows on sand dunes along the Atlantic Ocean and Great Lakes coasts...

) dune. Species introduced in the refuge to attract wildlife include autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata), Japanese black pine (Pinus thunbergii), and Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii
Berberis thunbergii
Berberis thunbergii is a species of Berberis, native to Japan and eastern Asia....

).

Environmental conditions

The salt marsh
Salt marsh
A salt marsh is an environment in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and salt water or brackish water, it is dominated by dense stands of halophytic plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh...

es of Jamaica Bay offer prime habitat
Habitat (ecology)
A habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant or other type of organism...

 for migratory bird
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...

s and other wildlife
Wildlife
Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....

. Most of the waters and marshes have been protected since 1972 as part of the Gateway National Recreation Area
Gateway National Recreation Area
Gateway National Recreation Area is a National Recreation Area in the Port of New York and New Jersey. Scattered over Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island, New York and Monmouth County, New Jersey, it provides recreational opportunities that are rare for a dense urban environment, including ocean...

. Though much improved, pollution is still a problem, and after once enjoying a worldwide reputation for oyster
Oyster
The word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....

s and supporting a vigorous fishing industry the area has been closed to shellfishing since the early 20th century as one result. The marshlands are also fast diminishing.

As of Spring 2003, marshland is being lost at the rate of approximately 40 acres (161,874.4 m²) per year. The reasons for this loss are still unclear, but one hypothesis is that the loss is the result of rising sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...

s. To test this, in the hope of preventing further losses, the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...

 plans to dredge a small area of the bay in order to build up the soil in about 1 acres (4,046.9 m²) of marsh. Opponents are concerned that the dredging may be harmful, perhaps leading to greater loss of marshland than the area saved.

Other scientists suggest that the 3500 lb (1,587.6 kg) of nitrogen
Nitrogen
Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N, atomic number of 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78.08% by volume of Earth's atmosphere...

 pouring into the bay every day, 92 percent from four sewage treatment plants ringing the bay, may be partly to blame. They hypothesize that the high levels of nitrogen may stimulate the growth of sea lettuce, smothering other plants. The excess energy may also cause smooth cordgrass to reallocate energy from its roots to its shoots, making it harder for marsh soil to hold together.

In an effort to reduce the amount of nitrogen being discharged into Jamaica Bay, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection
New York City Department of Environmental Protection
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection is a City agency of nearly 6,000 employees that manages and conserves the City’s water supply; distributes more than one billion gallons of clean drinking water each day to nine million New Yorkers and collects wastewater through a vast...

 announced the installation of enhanced treatment measures that will cut nitrogen discharges by 4,000 pounds a day. An innovative technology, called the Ammonia Recovery Process, is now being designed by ThermoEnergy Corporation, which will further reduce nitrogen discharges from the bay by 3,000 pounds per day by 2014.

Ownership/protection status

The majority of land and water within this complex is publicly owned by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 federal government, and the city of New York. Most of Jamaica Bay proper and portions of the uplands and barrier beach
Barrier island
Barrier islands, a coastal landform and a type of barrier system, are relatively narrow strips of sand that parallel the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a few islands to more than a dozen...

 are part of the Gateway National Recreation Area. Administered by the National Park Service, it includes (in part) the 9100 acres (36.8 km²) Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, Breezy Point Tip, and Floyd Bennett Field. There are several city parks
New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
The City of New York Department of Parks & Recreation is the department of government of the City of New York responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecological diversity of the city's natural areas, and furnishing recreational opportunities for city's...

 within the bay complex, including Marine Park and Edgemere Park, and numerous smaller parcels of city-owned land. Portions of the wetlands and uplands are part of John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...

, owned by the city of New York and operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is a bi-state port district, established in 1921 through an interstate compact, that runs most of the regional transportation infrastructure, including the bridges, tunnels, airports, and seaports, within the Port of New York and New Jersey...

 and occasionally the airport becomes a route of migration of some wildlife species disrupting the traffic. Small areas in the upland buffer around the bay and on the Rockaway Peninsula remain in private residential or commercial ownership.

Jamaica Bay has been designated and mapped as an otherwise protected beach unit pursuant to the federal Coastal Barrier Resources Act
Coastal Barrier Resources Act
The Coastal Barrier Resources Act of the United States was enacted October 18, 1982. The United States Congress passed this Act in order to address the many problems associated with coastal barrier development. CBRA designated various undeveloped coastal barriers, which were illustrated by a...

, prohibiting incompatible federal financial assistance or flood insurance
Flood insurance
Flood insurance denotes the specific insurance coverage against property loss from flooding. To determine risk factors for specific properties, insurers will often refer to topographical maps that denote lowlands, floodplains and floodways that are susceptible to flooding.-Hidden floods:Nationwide,...

 within the unit. The New York State Natural Heritage Program, in conjunction with The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy is a US charitable environmental organization that works to preserve the plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive....

, recognizes two Priority Sites for Biodiversity within the Jamaica Bay and Breezy Point habitat complex: Breezy Point (B2 - very high biodiversity significance) and Fountain Avenue Landfill (B3 - high biodiversity significance). Jamaica Bay and Breezy Point have been designated as Significant Coastal Fish and Wildlife Habitats by the New York State Department of State
New York State Department of State
The New York State Department of State is the keeper of records for the state of New York. According to the New York State Division of the Budget Citizen's Guide to State Government Structure, the State Department of the Executive Branch of New York State Government issues business licenses,...

, and the bay up to the high tide line was designated as a Critical Environmental Area by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation. Jamaica Bay was also designated as one of three special natural waterfront areas by the New York City Department of City Planning
New York City Department of City Planning
The Department of City Planning is a governmental agency of New York City responsible for setting the framework of city's physical and socioeconomic planning...

. A comprehensive watershed
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

 management plan for the bay was completed in 1993 by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection in order to better protect and restore habitats and improve water quality. Wetlands are regulated in New York under the state's Freshwater Wetlands Act of 1975 and Tidal Wetlands Act of 1977. These statutes are in addition to federal regulation under Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899
Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899
The Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act of 1899 is the oldest federal environmental law in the United States. The Act makes it a misdemeanor to discharge refuse matter of any kind into the navigable waters, or tributaries thereof, of the United States without a permit; this specific provision is...

, Section 404 of the Clean Water Act
Clean Water Act
The Clean Water Act is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Commonly abbreviated as the CWA, the act established the goals of eliminating releases of high amounts of toxic substances into water, eliminating additional water pollution by 1985, and ensuring that...

, and various Executive Orders.

Jamaica Bay in fiction

In the X-Men
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...

 comic books, a space shuttle piloted by Jean Grey
Jean Grey
Jean Grey-Summers is a fictional comic book superheroine appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. She has been known under the aliases Marvel Girl, Phoenix, and Dark Phoenix and is best known as one of five original members of the X-Men, for her relationship with Cyclops, and for her...

 crashed into Jamaica Bay in Uncanny X-Men
Uncanny X-Men
Uncanny X-Men, first published as The X-Men, is the flagship Marvel Comics comic book series for the X-Men franchise. It is the mainstream continuity featuring the adventures of the eponymous group of mutant superheroes...

 #101. This was the first appearance of the Phoenix
Phoenix (comics)
The Phoenix Force is an entity in the Marvel Comics fictional universe which has bonded with other characters, who often used the alias Phoenix....

 persona in the series. In reality, where not dredged for a channel
Channel (geography)
In physical geography, a channel is the physical confine of a river, slough or ocean strait consisting of a bed and banks.A channel is also the natural or human-made deeper course through a reef, sand bar, bay, or any shallow body of water...

, most of the bay is only a few feet deep even at high tide
High Tide
High Tide was a band formed in 1969 by Tony Hill , Simon House , Peter Pavli and Roger Hadden .-History:...

.

American Airlines Flight 1
American Airlines Flight 1
American Airlines Flight 1 was a domestic, scheduled passenger flight from New York International Airport , New York to Los Angeles International Airport, California that crashed shortly after take-off on 1 March 1962. All 87 passengers and eight crew died in the crash...

 crashed in Jamaica Bay on March 1, 1962, killing 95 people. In the second season episode of the American television drama series Mad Men
Mad Men
Mad Men is an American dramatic television series created and produced by Matthew Weiner. The series premiered on Sunday evenings on the American cable network AMC and are produced by Lionsgate Television. It premiered on July 19, 2007, and completed its fourth season on October 17, 2010. Each...

, "Flight 1", the fictional Andrew Campbell, the father of the character Pete Campbell
Pete Campbell
Peter "Pete" Campbell is a fictional character on AMC's television series Mad Men. He is portrayed by Vincent Kartheiser.-Biography:...

, is among those lost.

The concluding sequence of the 1961 noir thriller Blast of Silence
Blast of Silence
Blast of Silence is an American crime/thriller film released in 1961. It was written and directed by Allen Baron and produced by Merrill Brody who was also the cinematographer.-Characters and story:...

was shot in the fishing village
formerly established in the Spring Creek / Old Mill Creek section of Jamaica Bay.

See also

  • Geography and environment of New York City
    Geography and environment of New York City
    The geography of New York City is characterized by its coastal position at the meeting of the Hudson River and the Atlantic Ocean in a naturally sheltered harbor. The city's geography, with its scarce availability of land, is a contributing factor in making New York City the most densely populated...

  • Geography of New York Harbor
    Geography of New York Harbor
    The system of waterways of the Port of New York and New Jersey forms one of the most intricate natural harbors in the world, a fact that is reflected in the diversity of place names...

  • Geography of New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary
  • Marine life of New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary
  • Ruffle Bar
    Ruffle Bar
    Ruffle Bar is the name of a small island located in the Jamaica Bay of New York City, just east of Floyd Bennett Field, bordering Brooklyn and Long Island. It was once the place of a successful clam and oyster industry, but closed down when the water was deemed by the Department Of Health to be too...

    - Island in Jamaica Bay

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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