Facts and Aerial Maps

Lower New York Bay is a section of New York Harbor and an arm of the Atlantic Ocean. It's a sheltered deep harbor and one of the busiest harbors and part of one of the most urban coastlines in the world.

Lower New York Bay is separated from the smaller Upper New York Bay by The Narrows,  a 1 mile or 1.6 km narrow or tight point between the shores of Staten Island and Brooklyn, New York.  To the east, Lower New York Bay opens directly into the Atlantic Ocean between two spits of land, Sandy Hook, an extension of a barrier peninsula along the coast of New Jersey, and Rockaway, Queens, a barrier island on Long Island. The southern portion of the bay is sub-divided into  Raritan Bay, bounded by Staten Island and New Jersey, and Sandy Hook Bay, a sheltered triangular cove. 

 (The Sandy Hook peninsula)

Besides the Hudson River (which empties through the Narrows), the bay is fed by the Arthur Kill and the Raritan River, as well as by numerous smaller streams and creeks. The section of the bay near the confluence of the Arthur Kill and the Raritan River is called Raritan Bay.

(Lower New York Bay after a snowstorm)

One of the most important natural features of Lower New York Bay is the Hudson Canyon. This ancient riverbed of the Hudson River, which existed during the last ice age when the ocean levels were lower, extends southeast from Lower New York Bay for hundreds of miles into the Atlantic Ocean to the Continental Shelf. 

Historically, the Lower Bay has sustained a rich marine ecosystem with multiple fish species and molluscs especially oysters, clams and mussel beds.  Since the time of the American Indians, the Lower Bay had provided a rich fishing, hunting, and forging ground for generations of Lenape people. When Europeans arrived in the 17th century, the Lower Bay became the primary means of marine access to New York Harbor, and more recently to Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal.  In the 19th century, the shallow shoals in Raritan Bay were a rich oyster bed that supported profitable businesses for numerous bay communities on Staten Island and New Jersey, including Keyport, NJ. In the 20th century, due to increased population and industrial pollution, the water quality of Lower New York Bay and its ability to support marine life was severely diminished. Today, the water quality of the bay is slowly beginning to improve with the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972.

Lower New York Bay contains several important parks, beaches, and natural areas including Brighton Beach and Coney Island in Brooklyn, as well as the beaches of Sandy Hook, Breezy Point/Jacob Riis Park, and Great Kills Park of the Gateway National Recreation Area, and Cheesequake State Park in Old Bridge, New Jersey.