New Hope for NYC Nest Eggs

NYC Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe, The Point Community Development Corporation President Maria Torres, Trust for Public Land Regional Director Rose Harvey, Congressman José Serrano, NOAA Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere Tim Keeney, and Wildlife Conservation Society Senior Vice President for Public Affairs John Calvelli. ©WCS/J.Maher

In the middle of one of the world’s busiest harbors, a sanctuary for egrets, cormorants, and night herons will remain bird turf, thanks to a collaborative effort by Congressman José E. Serrano, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and other preservation groups. Serrano and the Trust for Public Land signed over the deed for South Brother Island to the New York City Parks Department, preserving one of the city’s last wild places for generations to come.

The seven-acre island sits half a mile off the Bronx shoreline in New York’s East River. It has been in private hands since the earliest days of European settlement in the New World. Because previous owners never developed the property for commercial uses, it has emerged as an important habitat for native wildlife.

South Brother Island is often overshadowed by its larger twin, North Brother Island, which was once home to Riverside Hospital, a quarantine facility for TB and typhoid cases from the 1880s to the early years of World War II. But South Brother’s history is equally compelling. For many years, beer baron and New York Yankees president Colonel Jacob Ruppert owned the property. In 1920, Ruppert famously lured Babe Ruth away from the Boston Red Sox. As legend has it, Ruth later spent days off South Brother Island, swatting balls into the East River.

Together with the Point Community Development Corporation, WCS played a key role in the island’s transfer by managing a portion of the grant funds used to purchase the property. “Through our work in the nearby Bronx River, as well as at our 600 field conservation projects around the world, we have seen firsthand the value of parkland and protected areas for wildlife,” said John Calvelli, Senior Vice President for Public Affairs of WCS. “This includes lions on the Serengeti, bison in Yellowstone National Park, and now harbor herons and other colonial nesting birds in New York City.”

From his seat on the House Appropriations Committee, Congressman Serrano helped to fund the Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program (CELCP), which is administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and funds a wide range of coastal conservation projects. South Brother Island was purchased with CELCP funds secured by Congressman Serrano for the Wildlife Conservation Society and The Point Community Development Corporation in 2002.

According to New York City Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe, the new designated wildlife refuge in the South Bronx adds to the City’s portfolio of nearly 29,000 acres of public parkland. As the next step, the Parks Department will develop a plan to best preserve and use its latest acquisition.

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