Cruise offers forgotten history of abandoned NYC islands

A unique new cruise is offering an up-close look at a nearly forgotten part of New York City — the abandoned islands along the East River.
They’ve been home to baseball stars, violent maritime disasters, wildlife sanctuaries and deadly disease, and every Sunday through July, Classic Harbor Line’s Urban Naturalist Tour piloting a 1920s-style yacht around the landmarks.
The three-hour cruise starts at the tiny Belmont Island, then motors past Roosevelt then Randall’s Island — both of which are still inhabited — before proceeding to Mill Rock at the mouth of the Harlem River.
4 The cruise leaves from Chelsea Piers and rounds Battery Park to explore the islands of the East River.
It then takes passengers all the way up through Hell Gate to North and South Brother islands, which have been shorebird sanctuaries since the city bought them nearly 20 years ago — but are steeped in eclectic NYC history.
Naturalist Gabriel Willow narrates the cruise, telling the stories of the islands and their past inhabitants, including famous names like Typhoid Mary herself and former Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert.
Ruppert — who bought the Yankees in 1915, built Yankee’s Stadium, and brought Babe Ruth to the team in 1920 — owned a summer home on South Brother Island. Stories say Ruth would drop by to practice his batting, while pick-up games would be held in a yard next door, according to the New York Times.
The mansion burned down in 1909 and the island was mostly deserted for nearly 70 years before it was purchased by a gravel company in 1975 for just $10.
NYC finally acquired South Brother Island in 2007 for about $2 million and turned it into the bird sanctuary it remains today.
4 Attendees are taken alongside East River islands including North and South Brother Islands, which are sanctuaries today Classic Harbor Line
Before Ruppert bought the island, it is believed to have been a base for Union soldiers in the Civil War.
In 1904, the ferry PS General Slocum ran aground on the island after catching fire while taking nearly 1,400 passengers along the river. Within minutes, 1,021 people perished — making it the deadliest disaster on US soil until the 9/11 attacks.
The passengers were mostly women and children, who burned to death on the collapsing decks or drowned in their heavy clothes after leaping into the river, according to the New York Public Library.
Just across the water on North Brother Island, the remains of a hospital used to treat quarantined patients of diseases like typhus, smallpox, and tuberculosis, withers in decay.
4 The Classic Harbor Line cruise takes passengers onboard a 1920s style yacht for the trip Classic Harbor Line
That hospital is where Typhoid Mary — real name Mary Mallon, a cook who inadvertently sparked an outbreak of typhus due to her immunity to the symptoms — was quarantined twice and finally died after spending 26 years isolated there, according to the National Library of Medicine.
Both islands have since been designated sanctuaries for seabirds, which thrive in the absence of humans.
“There’s no beautiful lagoon,” Ruppert’s great-great nephew K. Jacob Rupert told the Times about a visit he took shortly before the island was sold to the city. “It’s a mound of bird poop. But there are beautiful birds. I never thought I could walk up to a swan on her nest. The ground is nothing but bird droppings and broken egg shells.”
4 The trip is scheduled to coincide with sunset and gives passengers an unparalleled view of the city Classic Harbor Line
Mill Rock served as a fortified defensive position during the war of 1812 and today is used as a nature educational center for special events, while Belmont Island was built during the construction of the tunnel beneath.
The cruise is planned to coincide with sunset, giving attendees a view of the city lit up by night to contrast the natural stillness of the river island.
The cruise company recommends passengers bring their own binoculars.
The $124 ticket, however, includes a glass of champagne and a sandwich.