The New York–New Jersey Harbor Estuary, also known as the Hudson-Raritan Estuary, is in the northeastern states of

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

on the

East Coast of the United States The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the region encompassing the coast, coastline where the Eastern United States meets the Atlantic Ocean; it has always pla ...

. The system of waterways of the

Port of New York and New Jersey The Port of New York and New Jersey is the port district of the New York metropolitan area, New York-Newark metropolitan area, encompassing the region within approximately a radius of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. It includes the sy ...

forms one of the most intricate natural harbors in the world and one of the busiest

ports of the United States Ports collections (or ports trees, or just ports) are the sets of makefiles and patches provided by the BSD-based operating systems, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD, as a simple method of installing software or creating binary packages. They are usual ...

. The harbor opens onto the

New York Bight The New York/New Jersey Bight is the geological identification applied to a roughly triangular indentation, regarded as a bight, along the Atlantic coast of the United States that extends northeasterly from Cape May Inlet in New Jersey to Mo ...

in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

to the southeast and

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a sound (geography), marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York (state), New York to the south. From west to east, ...

to the northeast. Although the overall form of the

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime enviro ...

remains unchanged from the time of

Giovanni da Verrazzano Giovanni da Verrazzano ( , ; often misspelled Verrazano in English; 1491–1528) was an Italian ( Florentine) explorer of North America, who led most of his later expeditions, including the one to America, in the service of King Francis I of ...

's visit in 1524, all parts have changed at least a little, and some parts, such as

Hell Gate Hell Gate is a narrow tidal strait in the East River in New York City. It separates Astoria, Queens, Astoria, Queens, from Randall's and Wards Islands in Manhattan. Etymology The name "Hell Gate" is a corruption of the Low German or Dutch la ...

and

Ellis Island Ellis Island is an island in New York Harbor, within the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York (state), New York. Owned by the U.S. government, Ellis Island was once the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United State ...

, have been almost completely altered. In the greatest hidden change, the navigational channels have been deepened from the natural depth to . In some places this required blasting of

bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid rock that lies under loose material ( regolith) within the crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface material. An exposed portion of bed ...

. There is an extremely complex system of tides and currents. Both the Bight and the Sound are essentially marine bodies with

tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

s and

saltwater Saline water (more commonly known as salt water) is water that contains a high concentration of dissolved salts (mainly sodium chloride). On the United States Geological Survey (USGS) salinity scale, saline water is saltier than brackish wat ...

, but the Sound compared to the Atlantic is about 20–30% less saline (as an estuary), and the tide is about 3 hours later with as much as 70% more variation. Rivers add a

fresher A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

, non-tidal inflow although the tide and

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

ness extend well up rivers throughout the extended hydrologic system from Albany to

Montauk Point Montauk ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in East Hampton and Suffolk County, New York, on the eastern end of the South Shore of Long Island. As of the 2020 United States census, the CDP's population was 4,318. The CDP encomp ...

to the

Hudson Canyon The Hudson Canyon is a submarine canyon that begins from the shallow outlet of the estuary at the mouth of the Hudson River. It extends out over seaward across the continental shelf finally connecting to the deep ocean basin at a depth of be ...

region of the New York Bight. The New York Harbor Observing and Prediction System (NYHOPS) utilizes information from sensors, weather forecasts, and environment models to provide real-time forecasts of meteorological and oceanographic conditions in the area. Since the

Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962 The Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962 occurred on March 5–9, 1962 along the Atlantic Ocean, mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. Also known as the Great March Storm of 1962, it was considered by the U.S. Geological Survey to be one of the most des ...

beaches along the shores of the East Coast have been regularly replenished with sand pumped in from off-shore. The

United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...

(USACE) coordinates the projects. In 2016, USACE and the

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, (PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ) is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate c ...

produced a comprehensive restoration plan for the

New York Harbor New York Harbor is a bay that covers all of the Upper Bay. It is at the mouth of the Hudson River near the East River tidal estuary on the East Coast of the United States. New York Harbor is generally synonymous with Upper New York Bay, ...

region, with proposals to mitigate the effects of

sea level rise The sea level has been rising from the end of the last ice age, which was around 20,000 years ago. Between 1901 and 2018, the average sea level rose by , with an increase of per year since the 1970s. This was faster than the sea level had e ...

through projects to restore natural areas. In September the USACE released the New York New Jersey Harbor and Tributaries Study (HATS).

Features of the harbor estuary

The lists below includes features of the

with a waterborne emphasis, starting with natural features. Where possible the list proceeds from the Lower Bay entrance approximately clockwise around the Harbor. The alternative sorting is by jurisdiction. Official references are the

NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charting the seas, conducting deep-sea exploratio ...

Coastal pilot,Chapter 11
, New York Harbor and Approaches

, 35th Edition, 2006
Office of Coast Survey

. NOAA

nautical chart A nautical chart or hydrographic chart is a graphic representation of a sea region or water body and adjacent coasts or river bank, banks. Depending on the scale (map), scale of the chart, it may show depths of water (bathymetry) and heights of ...

s,NOAA nautical charts
12327
''New York Harbor'' (1:40,000 scale)
12324
''Sandy Hook to Little Egg''
12350
''Jamaica Bay and Rockaway Inlet''
1240212401
''New York Lower Bay''
12331
''Raritan Bay and southern part of Arthur Kill''
12332
''Raritan River''
12333
''Kill van Kull and northern part of Arthur Kill''
12334
''New York Harbor (Upper Bay and Narrows''
12337123351233812341

12339

12366
''Long Island Sound and East River'', found on page

Nautical chart A nautical chart or hydrographic chart is a graphic representation of a sea region or water body and adjacent coasts or river bank, banks. Depending on the scale (map), scale of the chart, it may show depths of water (bathymetry) and heights of ...

Atlantic Coast charts online
, Office of Coast Survey,

. and

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...

topographic maps. USGS topographic maps, 1:24,000 scale, listed from west to east (in a row), then north to south: *Yonkers, Mount Vernon, Mamaroneck; *Orange, Weehawken, Central Park Flushing, Seacliff; *Elizabeth, Jersey City, Brooklyn, Jamaica, Lynbrook; *Perth Amboy, Arthur Kill The Narrows, Coney Island, Far Rockaway; *South Amboy, Keyport, Sandy Hook West, Sandy Hook East. Many jurisdictional issues appear in U.S. law.Title 33. Navigation and Navigable Waters
USC. See Section 59.

Rivers and streams

Bi-state *

Hackensack River The Hackensack River is a river, about 45 miles (72 km) long, in the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, emptying into Newark Bay, a back chamber of New York Harbor. The watershed of the river includes part of the suburban ar ...

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

(lowest section also called the North River) New Jersey *

Berrys Creek Berry's Creek (sometimes referred to as Berrys Creek or Berry Creek) is a tributary of the Hackensack River in the New Jersey Meadowlands in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, New Jersey. The creek drainage basin, watershed contains a div ...

* Dwars Kill * Elizabeth River *

Overpeck Creek Overpeck Creek is a tributary of the Hackensack River, approximately long, in Bergen County in northeastern New Jersey in the United States. The lower broad mouth of the creek is part of the extended tidal estuary of the lower Hackensack and of t ...

Navesink River The Navesink River is an estuary in the eastern United States in Monmouth County, New Jersey. Approximately in length, it is surrounded by the communities of Middletown (including the namesake Navesink CDP), Red Bank, Fair Haven, and ...

Passaic River The Passaic River ( or ) is a river, approximately long, in North Jersey, northern New Jersey. The river in its upper course flows in a highly circuitous route, meandering through the swamp lowlands between the ridge hills of rural and suburb ...

First River The First River, in the state of New Jersey in the United States, is a subterranean river and the first main tributary of the Passaic River encountered while travelling upstream from its mouth at Newark Bay. Beginning at the confluence of Mill ...

(a.k.a. Mill Brook) ** Second River ** Third River *

Rahway River The Rahway River is a river in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex, Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex, and Union County, New Jersey, Union Counties, New Jersey, United States, The Rahway flows into the Arthur Kill, the tidal channel between ...

Raritan River The Raritan River is a river of the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its Drainage basin, watershed drains much of the mountainous areas in the North Jersey, northern and Central Jersey, central sections of the state, emptying into the Raritan Bay near ...

Shrewsbury River The Shrewsbury River is a short stream and navigable estuary. The stream is approximately 8 mi (13 km) long and is located in Monmouth County in Central New Jersey. It extends east-northeast from its head of navigation at Oceanport to its con ...

* Morses Creek *

Piles Creek Piles Creek is a stream in Union County, New Jersey. It empties in the Arthur Kill tidal strait in Linden on the Chemical Coast between the mouth of Morses Creek and the mouth of the Rahway River just below the Linden Generating Station, a pow ...

Woodbridge River The Woodbrige River (also known as Woodbridge Creek) is a river in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey, Woodbridge Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. The river is an important waterway, which frequen ...

New York * Alley Creek *

Bronx River The Bronx River (), is a river that is approximately long, and flows through southeastern New York (state), New York in the United States and drains an area of . It is named after colonial settler Jonas Bronck. It originally rose in what is no ...

Byram River The Byram River is a long riverU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 spanning southeast New York state and southwestern Connecticut in the United States. It h ...

Coney Island Creek Coney Island Creek is a tidal inlet in Brooklyn, New York City. It was created from a series of streams and inlets by land filling and digging activities starting in the mid-18th century which, by the 19th century, became a continual strait an ...

Flushing River The Flushing River, also known as Flushing Creek, is a waterway that flows northward through the borough of Queens in New York City, New York, U.S. It runs mostly within Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, emptying into the Flushing Bay and the E ...

Fresh Kills Fresh Kills (from the Middle Dutch word '' kille'', meaning "riverbed" or "water channel") is a stream and freshwater estuary in the western portion of the borough of Staten Island in New York City, United States. It is the site of the Fresh K ...

Gerritsen Creek Gerritsen Creek is a short watercourse in Brooklyn, New York City, that empties into Jamaica Bay. The creek has been described as one of the "fingers" that formed the original shoreline of Jamaica Bay. The creek lies just beyond the maximum exten ...

* Glen Cove Creek *

Gowanus Canal The Gowanus Canal (originally known as Gowanus Creek) is a canal in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, on the westernmost portion of Long Island. Once a vital cargo transportation hub, the canal has seen decreasing use since the mid-20th ...

(formerly Gowanus Creek) *

Hawtree Creek Hawtree Creek is a small saltwater creek that empties into Jamaica Bay in Queens, New York. The creek separates the neighborhoods of Hamilton Beach and Howard Beach Howard Beach is a neighborhood in the southwestern portion of the New York ...

Hook Creek Hook Creek is a stream on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The creek travels through both the New York City borough of Queens and the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County. Description Hook Creek runs between Rosedale, ...

** Clear Stream **

Valley Stream Brook Valley Stream Brook (more commonly known as Valley Stream) is a stream on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. Description Valley Stream Brook runs between Franklin Square and Hook Creek, ultimately emptying into Jamaica ...

Hutchinson River The Hutchinson River is a freshwater stream located in the New York City borough of the Bronx and Southern Westchester County, New York, United States. It forms on the New Rochelle– Scarsdale municipal line off Brookline Road in the latter c ...

* Luyster Creek * Main Creek *

Mamaroneck River The Mamaroneck River is a freshwater stream located in Southern Westchester County, New York. The river forms in White Plains and Harrison and flows south through Mamaroneck Town and Village, where it empties into Mamaroneck Harbor and Long ...

Mianus River The Mianus River is a river in Westchester County, New York, and Fairfield County, Connecticut, in the United States. It begins in the town of North Castle, New York (east of Armonk) in a series of ponds at about altitude. Flowing northeas ...

* Motts Creek *

Newtown Creek Newtown Creek, a long tributary of the East River, is an estuary that forms part of the border between the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, in New York City. River engineering#Channelization, Channelization made it one of the most heavily-use ...

Dutch Kills Long Island City (LIC) is a neighborhood within the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; Sunnyside to the east; and Newtown Creek, which separates Queens from Greenpoint, Brook ...

** English Kills ** Maspeth Creek **Whale Creek * Richmond Creek * Sherman Creek * Simonsons Creek * Smith Creek * Springville Creek * Stannards Brook *

Tibbetts Brook Tibbetts Brook, originally Tippett's Brook or Tibbitt's Brook, is a stream in the southern portion of mainland New York, flowing north to south from the city of Yonkers in Westchester County into the borough of the Bronx within New York City. O ...

Tidal straits

Inter-state *

Arthur Kill The Arthur Kill (sometimes referred to as the Staten Island Sound) is a tidal strait in the New York–New Jersey Harbor Estuary between Staten Island (also known as Richmond County), New York, and Union and Middlesex counties, New Jersey. It ...

Kill Van Kull __NOTOC__ The Kill Van Kull is a tidal strait between Staten Island, New York (state), New York, and Bayonne, New Jersey, Bayonne, New Jersey, in the United States. It is approximately long and wide and connects Newark Bay with Upper New York ...

New York *

Bronx Kill The Bronx Kill is a narrow strait in New York City delineating the southernmost extent of the Bronx. It separates the Bronx from Randalls Island. It connects the Harlem River to the East River. History Originally, the Bronx Kill was a sizeab ...

Buttermilk Channel 300px, The Buttermilk Channel, shown in red, in Upper New York Bay Buttermilk Channel is a small tidal strait in Upper New York Bay in New York City, approximately long and wide, separating Governors Island from Brooklyn. The channel is marked ...

East River The East River is a saltwater Estuary, tidal estuary or strait in New York City. The waterway, which is not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island, ...

* Grass Hassock Channel *

Harlem River The Harlem River is an tidal strait in New York City, flowing between the Hudson River and the East River and separating the island of Manhattan from the Bronx on the United States mainland. The northern stretch, also called the Spuyten Duyvi ...

The Narrows The Narrows is the tidal strait separating the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City. It connects the Upper New York Bay and Lower New York Bay (of larger New York Bay) and forms the principal channel by which the Hudson Ri ...

* Pumpkin Patch Channel *

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 (formerly Barren Island) in Brooklyn. Description Rockaway In ...

* Spuyten Duyvil

Bays, inlets and coves

New York Bay New York Bay is the large tidal body of water in the New York–New Jersey Harbor Estuary where the Hudson River, Raritan River, and Arthur Kill empty into the Atlantic Ocean between Sandy Hook, New Jersey, Sandy Hook and Rockaway Point. Geogr ...

Lower New York Bay Lower New York Bay is a section of New York Bay south of the Narrows (the strait between Staten Island and Brooklyn). The eastern end of the Bay is marked by two spits of land, Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and Rockaway, Queens. The waterway bet ...

Gravesend Bay Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the south bank of the River Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Rochester, it is the ad ...

** Great Hills Harbor **

Jamaica Bay Jamaica Bay (also known as Grassy Bay) is an estuary on the southern portion of the western tip of Long Island, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The estuary is partially man-made, and partially natural. The bay connects with Lo ...

*** Bergen Basin *** Fresh Creek Basin *** Grassy Bay *** Head of Bay **** Thurston Basin ***

Mill Basin Mill Basin is a residential neighborhood in southeastern Brooklyn, New York City. It is on a peninsula abutting Jamaica Bay and is bordered by Avenue U on the northwest and the Mill Basin/Mill Island Inlet on its remaining sides. Mill Basin i ...

*** Norton Basin ***

Paerdegat Basin Paerdegat Basin is a channel that connects to Jamaica Bay between the neighborhoods of Bergen Beach and Canarsie in southeast Brooklyn, New York, United States. It connects to Jamaica Bay to the south, and the north end of the basin is adjacent to ...

** Leonardo Harbor ** Prince's Bay **

Raritan Bay Raritan Bay is a bay located at the southern portion of Lower New York Bay between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey and is part of the New York Bight. The bay is bounded on the northwest by New York's Staten Island, on the west b ...

***

Sandy Hook Bay The Raritan Bayshore is a region in central sections in the state of New Jersey. It is the area around Raritan Bay from The Amboys to Sandy Hook, in Middlesex and Monmouth counties, including the towns of Perth Amboy, South Amboy, Sayreville, ...

**Rockaway Inlet ***

Dead Horse Bay Dead Horse Bay is a small body of water off Barren Island, between the Gerritsen Inlet and Rockaway Inlet in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, New York, Brooklyn. History From the nineteenth century to the twent ...

***

Sheepshead Bay Sheepshead, Sheephead, or Sheep's Head, may refer to: Fish * '' Archosargus probatocephalus'', a medium-sized saltwater fish of the Atlantic Ocean * Freshwater drum, ''Aplodinotus grunniens'', a medium-sized freshwater fish of North and Central ...

* Upper New York Bay (New York Harbor) **Atlantic Basin **

Communipaw Communipaw is a neighborhood in Jersey City in Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located west of Liberty State Park and east of Bergen Hill, and the site of one of the earliest European settlements in North America. It gives ...

**Erie Basin **

Gowanus Bay Gowanus ( ) is a neighborhood in the northwestern portion of the New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the wo ...

Harsimus Cove Harsimus (also known as Harsimus Cove) is a neighborhood within Downtown Jersey City, Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The neighborhood stretches from the Harsimus Stem Embankment (the Sixth Street Embankment) on the north to Chr ...

** John's Cove **Long Canal **

Morris Canal The Morris Canal (1829–1924) was a toll road, common carrier Anthracite, anthracite coal canal across North Jersey, northern New Jersey that connected the two industrial canals in Easton, Pennsylvania across the Delaware River from its weste ...

Basin **

Newark Bay Newark Bay is a tidal bay at the confluence of the Passaic and Hackensack Rivers in northeastern New Jersey. It is home to the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal, the largest container shipping facility in Port of New York and New Jerse ...

Weehawken Cove Weehawken Cove is a cove on the west bank of the North River (Hudson River), Hudson River between the New Jersey municipalities of Hoboken, New Jersey, Hoboken to the south and Weehawken, New Jersey, Weehawken to the north. At the perimeter of ...

Bowery Bay Bowery Bay is a bay off the East River in New York City. It is located near the Ditmars Steinway area in the neighborhood of Astoria in the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered on the west by the Bowery Bay Water Pollution Control ...

Bushwick Inlet Bushwick Inlet Park is a public park in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. The park currently consists of two non-contiguous sections along the East River and is eventually planned to reach into Greenpoint at Quay Street. ...

Flushing Bay Flushing Bay is a tidal embayment in New York City. It is located on the south side of the East River and stretches to the south near the neighborhood of Flushing, Queens. It is bordered on the west by LaGuardia Airport and the Grand Central Pa ...

Little Bay Little Bay is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Little Bay is located 14 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of ...

*Hallets Cove *

Powell's Cove Powell's Books is a chain of bookstores, based in Portland, Oregon. Their flagship store, dubbed Powell's City of Books, claims to be the largest independent new and used bookstore in the world. In addition to Powell's City of Books, Powell's ...

Wallabout Bay Wallabout Bay is a small body of water in Upper New York Bay along the northwest shore of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, between the present Williamsburg and Manhattan Bridges. It is located opposite Corlear's Hook in Manhattan, across ...

(Navy Yard Basin) *

Westchester Creek Westchester Creek (also known as Frenchman's Creek) is a tidal inlet of the East River located in the south eastern portion of the Bronx in New York City. It is 2.1 miles (3.39 km) in length. The creek formerly traveled further inland, to w ...

City Island Harbor City Island Harbor is the protected body of water between City Island and Hart Island (Bronx), Hart Island in the Bronx, New York City, open to Long Island Sound at its northern and southern extremities. It is not a true harbor, but a Sound (geo ...

Eastchester Bay Eastchester Bay is a sound between City Island and the mainland Bronx in New York City, New York. Technically, it is not a bay, since it is open to larger bodies of water at both ends. The northern end connects via a narrow channel to Pelham ...

Hempstead Harbor Hempstead Harbor (also known as Hempstead Bay) is a bay hugging the northern coast of Long Island, in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, New York (state), New York. Located off of the Long Island Sound, it forms the northernmost portion of t ...

Little Neck Bay Little Neck Bay is an embayment in western Long Island, New York, off Long Island Sound. Little Neck Bay forms the western boundary of the Great Neck Peninsula, the eastern boundary of which is Manhasset Bay. The political boundary between ...

Manhasset Bay Manhasset Bay, New York, is an embayment in western Long Island off Long Island Sound. Description Manhasset Bay forms the northeastern boundary of the Great Neck Peninsula and the southwestern boundary of the Cow Neck Peninsula ( Port Was ...

Pelham Bay Pelham Bay Park is a municipal park located in the northeast corner of the New York City borough of the Bronx. It is, at , the largest public park in New York City. The park is more than three times the size of Manhattan's Central Park. The pa ...

* Port Chester Harbor

Islands

Bi-state

—All of the landfill portion of Ellis Island beyond its 1834 waterfront is in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

, as is all water surrounding Liberty and Ellis Islands. The original island is an exclave in New York State.All of the landfill portion of Ellis Island beyond its 1834 waterfront is in Hudson County, NJ. All water surrounding Liberty and Ellis Islands is in Hudson County. *

Liberty Island Liberty Island is a federally owned island in Upper New York Bay in the northeastern United States. Its most notable feature is the Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''), a large statue by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi that was ...

exclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...

within surrounding waters of Jersey City *

Shooters Island Shooters Island is a uninhabited island at the southern end of Newark Bay, off the North Shore of Staten Island in New York City. The boundary between the modern states of New York and New Jersey runs through the island, with a small porti ...

at head of Kill Van Kull in Newark Bay, part in New Jersey and part in New York

New Jersey

*Plum Island, Sandy Hook Bay * Robbins Reef

New York

Bronx County *

Pelham Islands The Pelham Islands are a group of islands in western Long Island Sound that belonged to Thomas Pell in the 17th century. The islands, and most of the surrounding area, were purchased from the Siwanoy Indians by Pell in 1654, creating Pelham Ma ...

** The Blauzes **

Chimney Sweeps Islands The Chimney Sweeps Islands are a pair of small islands located within New York City in the northern part of City Island Harbor in the borough of The Bronx. The islands, along with High Island, New York, divide City Island Harbor from Pelham Bay. ...

** City Island **

Hart Island Hart Island, sometimes referred to as Hart's Island, is located at the western end of Long Island Sound, in the northeastern The Bronx, Bronx in New York City. Measuring approximately long by wide, Hart Island is part of the Pelham Islands ar ...

High Island Geologically, a volcanic island is an island of volcanic origin. The term high island can be used to distinguish such islands from low islands, which are formed from sedimentation or the uplifting of coral reefs (which have often formed on ...

** Hunters Island ** Rat Island **

Travers Island Travers Island is a former island in Long Island Sound, located in the city of New Rochelle, New York. The island, originally united by a causeway to the mainland, comprises a tract of thirty acres in the Lower Harbor of New Rochelle, situated be ...

** Twin Island * North Brother Island * South Brother Island *

Rikers Island Rikers Island is a prison island in the East River in the Bronx, New York (state), New York, United States, that contains New York City's largest jail. Named after Abraham Rycken, who took possession of the island in 1664, the island was orig ...

Kings County *

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

Jamaica Bay islands * The Canarsie Pol *

Ruffle Bar Ruffle Bar is a island located in Jamaica Bay in the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, off the coast of Canarsie. The island is part of the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, and lies just east of the former Barren Island, where Floyd Bennett ...

New York County *

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

Upper Bay islands *

Governors Island Governors Island is a island in New York Harbor, within the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located approximately south of Manhattan Island, and is separated from Brooklyn to the east by the Buttermilk ...

East River islands * Mill Rock Island *

Randalls and Wards Islands Randalls Island (sometimes called Randall's Island) and Wards Island are conjoined islands, collectively called Randalls and Wards Island, in New York City.

Roosevelt Island Roosevelt Island is an island in New York City's East River, within the Borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. It lies between Manhattan Island to the west, and the borough of Queens, on Long Island, to the east. It is about long, wit ...

U Thant Island U Thant Island (officially Belmont Island) is a small artificial island or islet in New York City's East River, within the borough of Manhattan. The island, created during the construction of the Steinway Tunnel directly underneath, is the smal ...

Queens County *

Jamaica Bay islands *Rulers Bar Hassock Richmond County *

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

Hoffman Island Hoffman Island is an artificial island in the Lower New York Bay, off the South Beach of Staten Island, New York City. A smaller, artificial island, Swinburne Island, lies immediately to the south. Created in 1873 upon the Orchard Shoal by ...

(formerly "Orchard Shoals") * Isle of Meadows *

Prall's Island Prall's Island is an uninhabited island in the Arthur Kill between Staten Island, New York, and Linden, New Jersey, in the United States. The island is one of the minor islands that are part of the borough of Staten Island in New York City. T ...

Swinburne Island Swinburne Island is a artificial island in Lower New York Bay, east of Staten Island in New York City. It was used for quarantine of history of immigration to the United States, immigrants. Swinburne Island is the smaller of two nearby islan ...

Westchester County *

** Davids Island ** Goose Island

Land features

New Jersey *

Bergen Neck Bergen Neck is a peninsula in the United States, located between the Upper New York Bay and the Newark Bay in the Hudson County, New Jersey municipalities of Bayonne and Jersey City. Its southernmost tip, Bergen Point, is separated from Staten ...

Bergen Point Bergen Point is a point of land that lends its name to the adjacent neighborhood in Bayonne in Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The point is located on the north side of Kill van Kull at Newark Bay. It is the section of the cit ...

* Constable Hook * Droyer's Point * Kearny Point *

New Barbadoes Neck New Barbadoes Neck is the name given in the colonial era for the peninsula in northeastern New Jersey, US between the lower Hackensack and Passaic Rivers, in what is now western Hudson County and southern Bergen County. The neck begins in the ...

Paulus Hook Paulus Hook is a community on the Hudson River waterfront in Jersey City, New Jersey. It is located across the river from Manhattan. The name Hook comes from the Dutch word "hoeck", which translates to "point of land." This "point of land" has ...

Sandy Hook Sandy Hook is a barrier spit in Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The barrier spit, approximately in length and varying from wide, is located at the north end of the Jersey Shore. It encloses the southern en ...

New York *

Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...

(formerly an island) *Fort Washington Point * Red Hook *

Rockaway Point 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 to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south. The community is run b ...

Rodman's Neck Rodman's Neck (formerly Ann Hook's Neck) is a peninsula of land in the New York City borough of the Bronx that juts out into Long Island Sound. The southern third of the peninsula is used as a firing range by the New York City Police Department; t ...

Throgs Neck Throggs Neck (also known as Throgs Neck) is a neighborhood and peninsula in the south-eastern portion of the borough of the Bronx in New York City. It is bounded by the East River and Long Island Sound to the south and east, Westchester Creek o ...

* Ward's Point *

Willets Point Willets Point, also known locally as the Iron Triangle, is an industrial neighborhood within Corona, in the New York City borough of Queens. Located east of Citi Field near the Flushing River, it has been known for its automobile shops and j ...

Banks and shoals

Lower Bay *East Bank *False Hook *Flynns Knoll *Old Orchard Shoal *Romer Shoal *West Bank Upper Bay *Bay Ridge Flats *Dimond Reef *Gowanus Flats *Jersey Flats East River *College Point Reef *Hog Back *Holmes Rock *Lawrence Point Ledge *Mill Rock *Rhinelander Reef *South Brother Ledge * Ways Reef

Navigational channels

Lower Bay *

Ambrose Channel Ambrose Channel is the only shipping channel in and out of the Port of New York and New Jersey. The channel is considered to be part of Lower New York Bay and is located several miles off the coasts of Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and Breezy Point ...

*Atlantic Highland Anchorage *Chapel Hill South Channel *Coney Island Channel *Gravesend Bay Anchorage *Raritan Bay East Reach *Rockaway Inlet *Sandy Hook Channel *Swash Channel *Terminal Channel Raritan Bay *Red Bank Reach *Great Beds Reach *Raritan Bay West Reach *Raritan River Cutoff **Perth Amboy Anchorage **South Amboy Reach *Seguine Point Bend *Ward Point Bend (East & West) *Ward Point Secondary Channel Jamaica Bay *Beach Channel *Island Channel *Runway Channel Arthur Kill *Fresh Kills Reach *Elizabeth Port Reach *Gulfport Reach *Outerbridge Reach *Port Reading Reach *Port Socony Reach *Pralls Island Reach *South of Shooters Island Reach *Tremley Point Reach Newark Bay *Elizabeth Channel *Newark Bay Middle Reach *Newark Bay North Reach *Newark Bay South Reach *North of Shooters Island Reach *Port Newark Branch Channel *Port Newark Pierhead Channel *South Elizabeth Channel Kill van Kull *Bergen East Point Reach *Bergen West Point Reach *Constable Hook Reach Upper Bay * Anchorage ChannelReports of Channel Conditions
, USACE, Nov. 2004: "Partial Anchorage Channel: Starts approximately 3,990 Ft. seaward of Red Gas #2; Ends approximately 1,660 Ft. landward of Red Light & Bell #21. Authorized project: Width: 2000 ft, Length: 2.34 nmiles, Depth 45 ft.... Shoaling exists and begins approximately 2,230 Ft. seaward of Red Gas #2 and proceeds landward with a length of approximately 600 Ft. and a width of approximately 60 Ft."Simplified ma
Bayonne Peninsula
Chap. 6, CPIP Toolkit, PANYNJ. *Bayridge Channel *

*Claremont Terminal Channel *Port Jersey Channel *Greenville Channel *Pierhead Channel *Red Hook Channel *Red Hook Flats Anchorage Hudson River * Weehawken Edgewater Channel East River * East Channel * South Brother Channel * West Channel

Port facilities

One of the many duties of the

is to develop trade interests in the New York-New Jersey area. The Port Authority operates most of the containerized port facilities listed here, and also collaborates with the Army Corps of Engineers to maintain shipping channels in the harbor. New Jersey (numerous privately operated bulk facilities, especially petroleum, are not listed)
Auto Marine Terminal

Bayonne Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...

and

Jersey City Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

—Port Authority
Global Marine Terminal

Jersey City Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

—privately operated *

Port Jersey Port Jersey, officially the Port Jersey Port Authority Marine Terminal and referred to as the Port Jersey Marine Terminal, is an intermodal freight transport facility that includes a container terminal located on the Upper New York Bay in the ...

Port Newark–Elizabeth Marine Terminal Port Newark–Elizabeth Marine Terminal, a major component of the Port of New York and New Jersey, is the principal container ship facility for goods entering and leaving the New York metropolitan area and the northeastern quadrant of Nort ...

, Newark and

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation), lists various empresses named ''Elisabeth'' or ''Elizabeth'' * Princess Elizabeth ...

—Port Authority New York *Brooklyn **

Red Hook Container Terminal The Red Hook Marine Terminal is an intermodal freight transport facility in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City, on the Upper New York Bay in the Port of New York and New Jersey. The maritime facility handles container ships ...

—Port Authority **

South Brooklyn Marine Terminal The South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT) is an intermodal shipping, warehousing, and manufacturing complex in the Port of New York and New Jersey. It is located along the Upper New York Bay, between 29th and 39th Streets in the Sunset Park an ...

—City of New York *Staten Island **

Howland Hook Marine Terminal The Howland Hook Marine Terminal, operating as Port Liberty New York, is a container port facility in the Port of New York and New Jersey located at Howland Hook in northwestern Staten Island, New York City. It is situated on the east side of ...

—Port Authority

Lights and lighthouses

For lists seeInventory of Historic Light Stations: New Jersey Lighthouses
an

NPS lists. and.New York Lighthouses
an
New York Lighthouses
Lighthouse Friends 2001-2005. Active unless noted. New Jersey *

Conover Beacon The Conover Beacon is a lighthouse in Leonardo section of Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, that functioned as the front light of the now-discontinued Chapel Hill Range. History The Chapel Hill Channel provides ...

(Chapel Hill Front Range) * Great Beds Light *

Old Orchard Shoal Light Old Orchard Shoal Light was a sparkplug lighthouse in lower New York Bay marking a large shoal area. It was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy on October 29, 2012. History Old Orchard Shoal Light was completed and lit on April 25, 1893.Annual repor ...

Robbins Reef Light The Robbins Reef Light Station is a sparkplug lighthouse located off Constable Hook in Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, along the west side of Main Channel, Upper New York Bay. Note that although the light is clearly shown o ...

Romer Shoal Light Romer Shoal Light is a sparkplug lighthouse in Lower New York Bay, on the north edge of the Swash Channel, about south of Ambrose Channel and north of Sandy Hook, New Jersey, in the entrance to New York Harbor. It is in New Jersey, very clo ...

Sandy Hook Light __NOTOC__ The Sandy Hook Lighthouse, located about one and a half statute miles (2.4 km) inland from the tip of Sandy Hook, New Jersey, is the oldest working lighthouse in the United States. It was designed and built on June 11, 1764 by ...

* West Bank Light (Range Front) New York *

Ambrose Light Ambrose Light, often called Ambrose Tower, was the light station at the convergence of several major shipping lanes in Lower New York Bay, including Ambrose Channel, the primary passage for ships entering and departing the Port of New York a ...

* Lightship ''Ambrose'' (to Scotland Station, NJ, 1933; decommissioned 1968) *

Blackwell Island Light Blackwell Island Lighthouse (now Roosevelt Island Lighthouse, also formerly Welfare Island Lighthouse) is a stone lighthouse built by the government of New York City in 1872. See also: It is within Lighthouse Park at the northern tip of Rooseve ...

(decommissioned 1934) * Coney Island Light (Nortons Point) * Execution Rocks Light * Fort Wadsworth Light (decommissioned 1965) * Jeffreys Hook Light * Kings Point Light *

New Dorp Light The New Dorp Lighthouse is a decommissioned lighthouse located in the New Dorp section of Staten Island, New York City. Funds for the lighthouse were approved by United States Congress on August 31, 1852 and the structure was completed in 1856. ...

(Swash Channel Range Rear, decommissioned 1964) *

Prince's Bay Light The Prince's Bay Light (officially: John Cardinal O’Connor Light) is an active lighthouse on the highest point of the southern shoreline of Staten Island, New York, in the Pleasant Plains neighborhood. It is situated on an bluff overlooking R ...

(decommissioned 1922) * Staten Island Range Light *

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; ) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, within New York City. The copper-clad statue, a gift to the United States from the people of French Thir ...

(discontinued 1902) * Stepping Stones Light *

Throgs Neck Light Throgs Neck Light in Throggs Neck, the Bronx, New York, was a wooden lighthouse that was replaced by an iron skeletal tower that is still there. The lighthouse protects ships in the Long Island Sound from running up against the rocks. The lighth ...

Whitestone Point Light Whitestone Point Light is located in Whitestone, Queens Whitestone is a residential neighborhood in the northernmost part of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood proper is located between the East River to the north; College ...

Waterfront jurisdictions

Government and other agencies

Immigration and Customs Enforcement The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE; ) is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the United States from transnational crime and ille ...

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

New Jersey Meadowlands Commission The New Jersey Meadowlands Commission (NJMC; formerly the Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission) was a regional zoning, planning and regulatory agency in northern New Jersey. Its founding mandates were to protect the delicate balance of ...

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

U.S. Customs and Border Protection United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border control organization, charged with regulating and facilita ...

United States Park Police The United States Park Police (USPP) is the oldest uniformed federal law enforcement agency in the United States. It functions as a full-service law enforcement agency with responsibilities and jurisdiction in those National Park Service areas ...

Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor The Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor (WCNYH) was a regulatory agency in the Port of New York and New Jersey in the northeast of the United States. The bi-state agency was founded in 1953 by a Congressionally authorized compact between New ...

State, county, municipal

Monmouth County Monmouth County () is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is bordered to its west by Mercer and Middlesex Counties, to its south by Ocean County, to its east by the Atlantic Ocean, and to its north by ...

**Waterwitch Highlands **Atlantic Highlands **Leonardo **Belford **Port Monmouth **Keansburg **Port Comfort **Union Beach **Keyport * Middlesex County **Laurence Harbor **Morgan **South Amboy **

Perth Amboy Perth Amboy is a city in northeastern Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, within the New York Metro Area. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 55,436. Perth Amboy is known as the "City by the Bay", re ...

**Sewaren **Port Reading **Chrome **Carteret * Union County **Tremley Point **Grasselli **Linden **

***Elizabethport * Essex County ** Newark *

Hudson County Hudson County is a List of counties in New Jersey, county in the U.S. state of New Jersey, its smallest and most densely populated. Lying in the northeast of the state and on the west bank of the North River (Hudson River), Hudson River, the No ...

*** Port Johnson **

Liberty State Park Liberty State Park (LSP) is a park in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located on Upper New York Bay in Jersey City, New Jersey, Jersey City opposite Liberty Island and Ellis Island. The park opened in 1976 to coincide with United States Bicenten ...

Jersey City Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

Hoboken Hoboken ( ; ) is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Hoboken is part of the New York metropolitan area and is the site of Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's popula ...

Weehawken Weehawken is a Township (New Jersey), township in the North Hudson, New Jersey, northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located on the Hudson Waterfront and Hudson Palisades overlooking ...

West New York West New York is a town in the northern part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated upon the New Jersey Palisades. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 52,912, an increase of 3,204 (+6.4%) from ...

North Bergen North Bergen is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 63,361, an increase of 2,588 (+4.3%) from the 2010 census count of 60,773, ...

** Edgewater

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

New York County Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the smallest county by area in the U.S. state of New York. Located almost entire ...

Boundaries extend to mid-Hudson on the west, into the Upper Harbor south of Governors Island, to the far pierhead line of the East River, Harlem River and Spuyten Duyvil. The exceptions are the additional areas of

Marble Hill Marble Hill is the name of: Australia *Marble Hill, South Australia, the vice-regal residence in the Adelaide Hills Ireland * Marble Hill, County Donegal, a village in County Donegal United Kingdom *Marble Hill House, a villa on the banks ...

section included north of the Harlem River (bounded approximately by Johnson Avenue, West 230 Street) and Liberty and Ellis Islands to their original 1834 waterfront. River **

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

Kings County Kings County or King's County may refer to: Places Canada *Kings County, New Brunswick *Kings County, Nova Scotia * Kings County, Prince Edward Island ** King's County (electoral district), abolished in 1892 Ireland * County Offaly, formerly call ...

***

Floyd Bennett Field Floyd Bennett Field is an airfield in the Marine Park, Brooklyn, Marine Park neighborhood of southeast Brooklyn in New York City, along the shore of Jamaica Bay. The airport originally hosted commercial and general aviation traffic before bein ...

***Manhattan Beach ***Brighton Beach ***Coney Island ***Gravesend ***Bensonhurst ***Fort Hamilton ***Bath Beach ***Bay Ridge ***Red Hook ***South Brooklyn ***Brooklyn Heights **

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

, Queens County **:Lower Bay ***Far Rockaway ***Rockaway Point ***Breezy Point **:East River ***Flushing ***Willets Point ***

La Guardia Airport LaGuardia Airport ( ) – colloquially known as LaGuardia or simply LGA – is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City, situated on the northwestern shore of Long Island, bordering Flushing Bay. Covering , the facility wa ...

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

Bronx County The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County to its north; to its south and west, the New York City boro ...

***City Island **

, Richmond County ***Port Richmond ***Elm Park ***Mariners Harbor ***West New Brighton ***Sailors Snug Harbor ***New Brighton ***Tottenville ***Charleston ***Port Socony ***Travis ***Chelsea ***St. George ***Tompkinsville

References

External links

New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary Program
partnership to protect and restore the Harbor Estuary
New York and New Jersey Harbor
US Army Corps of Engineers

* Video explaining formation of estuary
EPA Water Quality

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geography Of New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary Port of New York and New Jersey Geography of New York City Geography of New Jersey Estuaries of New Jersey Estuaries of New York (state)