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North and South Brother Islands are a pair of small islands located in New York City's East River between the mainland Bronx and Rikers Island.

North Brother Island was once the site of the Riverside Hospital for quarantinable diseases but is now uninhabited. The islands had long been privately owned, but were purchased by the federal government in 2007 with some funding from the Trust for Public Land and others; both were given to the city. According to the New York City Parks Department, which oversees the islands, North Brother Island has about 20 acres (8 hectares) of land, and South Brother Island about 6 acres (2.4 ha).

Both North Brother Island and South Brother Island were claimed by the Dutch West India Company in 1614 and were originally named De Gesellen, translated as "the companions" or "the brethren" in English. On June 8, 1881, North Brother Island was transferred to what was then part of New York County (later to become the Bronx). On April 16, 1964, South Brother Island was also transferred to the Bronx. The islands had been incorporated into Long Island City in 1870, before the consolidation of New York City in 1898.

Since the mid-1960s, New York City mayors have considered a variety of uses for the island. In October 2014, New York City Council member Mark Levine, chair of the City Council's Parks Committee, led a delegation to visit the island, and declared his desire afterward to open the island for limited "light-touch, environmentally sensitive" public access. Also in 2017, the Science Channel filmed an episode on North Brother Island for the series What on Earth?. Marine 6 transported firefighters from the Rock to North Brother Island to combat the blaze.

White, who was in charge of public health for the city, used South Brother Island as the city's first dump, where garbage, manure, offal and carcasses were sent to help clean up the city, which consisted at that time of only Manhattan and its islands. In 1975, the city sold South Brother Island to Hampton Scows Inc., a Long Island investment company, for $10. South Brother Island was the 13th island to come under the Parks Department's jurisdiction.

From the 1980s through the early 2000s, North Brother Island supported one of the area's largest nesting colonies of black-crowned night heron. The New York City Bird Alliance has monitored nesting colonies on the island for over 20 years. In their May/July 2019 Nesting Survey however, the New York City Bird Alliance was unable to confirm the great blue heron or the green heron as breeding on any of the coastal islands. Some other wading bird species, including black-crowned night-herons, were found to have breeding colonies on South Brother Island; snowy egret and double-crested cormorant were also found nesting there. In fact, "the three largest wader nesting colonies" in the survey included South Brother Island. There was no mention in the report of any significant findings on North Brother Island.

In June 2009, North Brother Island was featured in episode 8 ("Armed and Defenseless") of Life After People on the History Channel.

Mosher, Dave (October 8, 2017) "New York City owns a creepy island that almost no one is allowed to visit — here's what it's like" UK Business Insider Seitz, Sharon & Miller, Stuart (2003) The Other Islands of New York. Staff (January 3, 2013) "The Forgotten Island of New York: North Brother". United States Census Bureau (2000) North Brother and South Brother Islands: Block 9000, Block Group 9, Census Tract 5, Bronx County, New York "North Brother Island may someday open to the public" Curbed New York (additional images)

Comprehensive history and photo essay on the state of North Brother Island from 2008-2011

Quick Facts

• According to the New York City Parks Department, which oversees the islands, North Brother Island has about 20 acres (8 hectares) of land, and South Brother Island about 6 acres (2.4 ha).
• United States Census Bureau (2000) North Brother and South Brother Islands: Block 9000, Block Group 9, Census Tract 5, Bronx County, New York
• Both North Brother Island and South Brother Island were claimed by the Dutch West India Company in 1614 and were originally named De Gesellen, translated as "the companions" or "the brethren" in English.
• The islands had been incorporated into Long Island City in 1870, before the consolidation of New York City in 1898.
• On June 8, 1881, North Brother Island was transferred to what was then part of New York County (later to become the Bronx).

Source material: Wikipedia - "North and South Brother Islands (New York City)". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.