Mau Mau Island, also called White Island, is a small uninhabited island in the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

borough of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, located between

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 ...

and Mill Creek in the Marine Park recreation area. Historically, the area around Mau Mau Island was a

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is domin ...

with shifting topography. The island came into existence permanently sometime after 1917,According to , " ere was no island in the creek in 1917." and most likely formed in 1934 as dumping led to the current shoreline. The area was uninhabited by European settlers until the late 1700s, when a mill and bridge were built. It was donated to the City of New York in the early 1930s, along with much of Marine Park, by

Alfred Tredway White Alfred Tredway White (May 28, 1846 – January 29, 1921) was an American housing reformer and philanthropist, and was known as "Brooklyn's first citizen." He developed the Home Buildings (1877), Tower Buildings (1879, now Cobble Hill Towers) a ...

and Frederic Pratt with the requirement that it become parkland. In the 1930s, sand excavated during construction of the

Belt Parkway The Belt Parkway is the name given to a series of connected limited-access highways that form a belt-like circle around the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. The Belt Parkway comprises three of the four parkways in what is known as ...

was added to the island. Subsequently, patches of

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term ...

were laid on top to prevent the sand from blowing onto the nearby Marine Park Golf Course. In 2011, the

New York City Parks Department The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolog ...

began a restoration project on the island, with the goal of restoring salt marsh and bird habitat.

Notes

References

Uninhabited islands of New York (state) Islands of Brooklyn Islands of New York City Marine Park, Brooklyn {{BrooklynNY-geo-stub