We are delighted to introduce you to one of the most interesting communities in New York City, City Island, a small island with a rich nautical history. Much of its colorful past is preserved in the Nautical Museum, and during most of the year we are open every Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m.
 

The Museum will remain closed because of the coronavirus epidemic until further notice and possibly for the rest of the year. In the meantime, we have been hard at work repairing damage in the Community Room, installing new objects in the Nautical Room, and preparing an exhibit of the works of Mark Whitcombe for our Gallery. Work continues on the Oral History Project, which will be launched next year. If you have any questions, please email info@cityislandmuseum.org or call 718-885-0507.

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In the meantime, we have posted a brief illustrated history of City Island based on a webinar that was presented on June 15 . Another webinar, City Island, the "Cape Cod" of New York will be presented on Tuesday, Sept. 1, at 5:30 p.m.  Visit nyadventureclub.com for more information. There is a small fee for admission to the webinar, half of which will be donated to the Nautical Museum.

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Visit Facebook for a look at hundreds of photographs of City Island Then and Now, posted by Tom Nye, the museum’s president.

City Island’s Boat-Building History Exhibit

At the turn of the 20th century, City Island was a major center for wooden boat building with a worldwide reputation for the highest quality. This exhibition of photographs and commentary focuses on the extraordinary period in City Island’s history when yacht and shipbuilding were at their peak. Here are all the old yards, the brilliant craftsmen who worked there, the methods of construction they used, and the famous sailing and motor yachts they produced. Also highlighted are the military vessels that were built here during the war years and the brilliant 12-meter sloops that successfully defended the America’s Cup seven times.

The next time (and every time) you shop at Amazon, go to 


 

select the City Island Historical Society as your charity of choice, and 0.5% of the price of eligible purchases will be made to the Nautical Museum.

The museum's programs are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, thanks to Council Member Mark Gjonaj, and by the Bronx Council on the Arts through the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Greater New York Arts Development Fund Regrants Program, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and the Bronx Delegation of the City Council. The City Island Nautical Museum was granted a permanent charter by the Board of Regents of the New York State Board of Education on January 11, 2012. And, on the basis of a careful consideration of the history and the architecture of the building at 190 Fordham Street in which the museum is housed, the Landmarks Preservation Commissioned Public School 102 (later Public School 17, The City Island School) a landmark because of its “special character and a special historical and aesthetic interest and value as part of the development, heritage and cultural characteristics of New York City.