West Bank Light

West Bank Light, officially West Bank Front Range Light,[1] is a lighthouse in Lower New York Bay, within New York City, and acts as the front range light for the Ambrose Channel. It is currently active and not open to the public. The tower was built in 1901 and heightened in 1908. Staten Island Light serves as the rearrange.

West Bank Lighthouse

West Bank Lighthouse
Location	west of Ambrose Channel lower New York Bay
Coordinates	40°32′16.8″N 74°02′34.1″W
Year first constructed	1901
Year first lit	1901
Automated	1985
Foundation	Concrete/cast-iron caisson
Construction	Cast iron
Tower shape	Frustum of a cone sparkplug
Markings / pattern	Brown on black base
Tower height	55 feet (17 m)
Focal height	69 feet (21 m)
Original lens	Fourth-order Fresnel lens
Current lens	12 inches (300 mm)
Range	16 nautical mile, 12 nautical mile
Characteristic	Isophase 6s white from 181° to 004° red from 004° to 181°.
Fog signal	Horn: 2 blasts every 20 s
Admiralty number	J1081
ARLHS number	USA-876
USCG number	1-34790 [1] [2] [3]
Heritage	place listed on the National Register of Historic Places
West Bank Light Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Nearest city	New Dorp Beach, Staten Island, New York City
Area	0.1 acres (0.040 ha)
Architect	U.S. Lighthouse Board
MPS	Light Stations of the United States MPS
NRHP reference No.	06001230[4]
Added to NRHP	January 9, 2007

On May 29, 2007, the Secretary of the Interior identified West Bank Light, offshore in Ambrose Channel–Lower New York Bay, as surplus under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000. The property was described as 55 feet (17 m) tall with two floors, a keeper's dwelling, and located on 0.1 acres (0.040 ha) of underwater area. The keeper's dwelling, located on the second story (about five standard stories above the ground), was 1,500 square feet (140 m²). It could be seen as far as the Riegelmann Boardwalk in Coney Island, Brooklyn, as well as from South Beach, Staten Island.[5]

No group was identified as willing and able to preserve the West Bank Light, and on June 5, 2008, the General Services Administration placed the light up for sale via auction with an initial bid was $10,000. The auction ended on August 27, 2008 at a final bid of $245,000.[6] The sale did not close, and the light was auctioned a second time in September 2010, selling for $195,000 to Sheridan Reilly.[3]

References

1. Light List, Volume I, Atlantic Coast, St. Croix River, Maine to Shrewsbury River, New Jersey (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2012. p. 298.
2. "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: New York". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.
3. Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Downstate New York". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
4. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
5. Available properties through the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Program for 2007
6. GSA listing (1-PR-08-004) for West Bank Light

External links

Media related to West Bank lighthouse at Wikimedia Commons

• Lighthouse Friends site
• National Park Service Historic Lighthouses
• NPS West Bank at the Wayback Machine (archived November 4, 2013)