The New York–New Jersey Harbor Estuary, also known as the Hudson–Raritan Estuary, is in the northeastern states of New Jersey and New York on the East Coast of the United States. The system of waterways of the Port of New York and New Jersey forms one of the most intricate natural harbors in the world and one of the busiest ports of the United States. The harbor opens onto the New York Bight in the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast and Long Island Sound to the northeast.
Although the overall form of the estuary remains unchanged from the time of Giovanni da Verrazzano's visit in 1524, all parts have changed at least a little, and some parts, such as Hell Gate and Ellis Island, 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.
There is an extremely complex system of tides and currents. Both the Bight and the Sound are essentially marine bodies with tides and saltwater, 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, non-tidal inflow although the tide and brackishness extend well up riversNOAA Tides and Current web site FAQ page. See discussion of hydraulic currents. throughout the extended hydrologic system from Albany to Montauk Point to the Hudson Canyon region of the New York Bight. The New York Harbor Observing and Prediction System (NYHOPS)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 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 (USACE) coordinates the projects.
In 2016, USACE and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey produced a comprehensive restoration plan for the New York Harbor region, with proposals to mitigate the effects of sea level rise 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 Port of New York and New Jersey 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 Coastal pilot,Chapter 11 , New York Harbor and Approaches, Coast Pilot 2 , 35th Edition, 2006, Office of Coast Survey, NOAA. NOAA nautical charts,NOAA nautical charts 12327 New York Harbor (1:40,000 scale), 12324 Sandy Hook to Little Egg, 12350 Jamaica Bay and Rockaway Inlet, 12402, 12401 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, 12337, 12335, 12338, 12341 , 12339 , 12366 Long Island Sound and East River, found on page Nautical charts Atlantic Coast charts online , Office of Coast Survey, NOAA. and USGS 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 Hudson River (lowest section also called the North River)
New Jersey
Berrys Creek Dwars Kill Elizabeth River Overpeck Creek Navesink River Passaic River First River (a.k.a. Mill Brook) Second River Third River Rahway River Raritan River Shrewsbury River Morses Creek Piles Creek Woodbridge River
New York
Alley Creek Bronx River Byram River Coney Island Creek Flushing River Fresh Kills Gerritsen Creek Glen Cove Creek Gowanus Canal (formerly Gowanus Creek) Hawtree Creek Hook Creek Clear Stream Valley Stream Brook Hutchinson River Luyster Creek Main Creek Mamaroneck River Mianus River Motts Creek Newtown Creek Dutch Kills English Kills Maspeth Creek Whale Creek Richmond Creek Sherman Creek Simonsons Creek Smith Creek Springville Creek Stannards Brook Tibbetts Brook
Tidal straits Inter-state Arthur Kill Kill Van Kull Long Island Sound
New York
Bronx Kill Buttermilk Channel East River Grass Hassock Channel Harlem River Hell Gate The Narrows Pumpkin Patch Channel Rockaway Inlet Spuyten Duyvil
Bays, inlets and coves New York Bay Lower New York Bay Gravesend Bay Great Hills Harbor Jamaica Bay Bergen Basin Fresh Creek Basin Grassy Bay Head of Bay Thurston Basin Mill Basin Norton Basin Paerdegat Basin Leonardo Harbor Prince's Bay Raritan Bay Sandy Hook Bay Rockaway Inlet Dead Horse Bay Sheepshead Bay Upper New York Bay (New York Harbor) Atlantic Basin Communipaw Erie Basin Gowanus Bay Harsimus Cove John's Cove Long Canal Morris Canal Basin Newark Bay Weehawken Cove
East River
Bowery Bay Bushwick Inlet Flushing Bay Little Bay Hallets Cove Newtown Creek Powell's Cove Wallabout Bay (Navy Yard Basin) Westchester Creek
Long Island Sound
City Island Harbor Eastchester Bay Hempstead Harbor Little Neck Bay Manhasset Bay Pelham Bay Port Chester Harbor
Islands
Bi-state Ellis Island—All of the landfill portion of Ellis Island beyond its 1834 waterfront is in Jersey City, New Jersey, 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, exclave of New York within surrounding waters of Jersey City Shooters Island 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 Blauzes Chimney Sweeps Islands City Island Hart Island High Island Hunters Island Rat Island Travers Island Twin Island North Brother Island South Brother Island Rikers Island
Kings County Long Island Jamaica Bay islands The Canarsie Pol Ruffle Bar
New York County Manhattan Upper Bay islands Ellis Island Governors Island Liberty Island East River islands Mill Rock Island Randalls and Wards Islands Roosevelt Island U Thant Island
Queens County Long Island Jamaica Bay islands Rulers Bar Hassock
Richmond County Staten Island Hoffman Island (formerly "Orchard Shoals") Isle of Meadows Prall's Island Shooters Island Swinburne Island
Westchester County Pelham Islands Davids Island Goose Island
Land features New Jersey
Bergen Neck Bergen Point Constable Hook Droyer's Point Kearny Point New Barbadoes Neck Paulus Hook Sandy Hook
New York
Coney Island (formerly an island) Fort Washington Point Red Hook Rockaway Point Rodman's Neck Throgs Neck Ward's Point Willets Point
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 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."Hearing Notice for Department of the Army Corps of Engineers, N.Y.S. Department of Environmental Conservation 21/1/2004.Simplified map Bayonne Peninsula Chap. 6, CPIP Toolkit, PANYNJ. Bayridge Channel Buttermilk 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 Port Authority of New York and New Jersey 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 and Jersey City—Port Authority Global Marine Terminal, Jersey City—privately operated Port Jersey Port Newark–Elizabeth Marine Terminal, Newark and Elizabeth—Port Authority
New York Brooklyn Red Hook Container Terminal—Port Authority South Brooklyn Marine Terminal—City of New York Staten Island Howland Hook Marine Terminal—Port Authority
Lights and lighthouses For lists see and NPS lists. and.New York Lighthouses and New York Lighthouses Lighthouse Friends 2001-2005. Active unless noted.
New Jersey
Conover Beacon (Chapel Hill Front Range) Great Beds Light Old Orchard Shoal Light Robbins Reef Light Romer Shoal Light Sandy Hook Light West Bank Light (Range Front)
New York
Ambrose Light Lightship Ambrose (to Scotland Station, NJ, 1933; decommissioned 1968) Blackwell Island Light (decommissioned 1934) Coney Island Light (Nortons Point) Execution Rocks Light Fort Wadsworth Light (decommissioned 1965) Jeffreys Hook Light Kings Point Light New Dorp Light (Swash Channel Range Rear, decommissioned 1964) Prince's Bay Light (decommissioned 1922) Staten Island Range Light Statue of Liberty (discontinued 1902) Stepping Stones Light Throgs Neck Light Whitestone Point Light
Waterfront jurisdictions
Government and other agencies Immigration and Customs Enforcement National Park Service New Jersey Meadowlands Commission Port Authority of New York and New Jersey United States Army Corps of Engineers United States Coast Guard U.S. Customs and Border Protection United States Park Police Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor
State, county, municipal New Jersey
Monmouth County Waterwitch Highlands Atlantic Highlands Leonardo Belford Port Monmouth Keansburg Port Comfort Union Beach Keyport Middlesex County Laurence Harbor Morgan South Amboy Perth Amboy Sewaren Port Reading Chrome Carteret Union County Tremley Point Grasselli Linden Elizabeth Elizabethport Essex County Newark Hudson County Bayonne Port Johnson Liberty State Park Jersey City Hoboken Weehawken West New York North Bergen Edgewater
New York
New York City