Travel Guide: City Island

City Island, the Seaport of the Bronx, is what you would get if you crossed a New England seaside village with the Bronx. There are city busses, a post office, a branch of the New York Public Library and city trash cans on the sidewalks. But there are also rambling Shingle-style mansions, boat and fishing supply stores and more seafood restaurants per mile than probably anywhere else within New York City limits. The population is under 5,000 and it's a strange place to visit in the summer when everything is (mostly) open—in the off-season it feels downright post-apocalyptic.  

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GETTING THERE:

City Island is fully accessible by public transit—depending on where you're coming from, it might take a while but trust me it's worth it! Take the 6 train all the way to the end of the line, to the Pelham Bay Park stop in the Bronx. Catch the Bx29 bus right outside of the train station, and that will take you to City Island in just a few minutes. You can get off at the northern end, just over the bridge (a newer, less charming bridge opened in 2017), or ride the bus all the way to the southern end and walk back. The island is only 1.5 miles long and half a mile wide, but you can take the Bx29 while you're on the island too (or use a car service). 

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WHAT TO DO:

Nautical Museum

The City Island Nautical Museum is open every Saturday and Sunday from 1-5pm and admission is only $5. Stop here first and learn about the island's rich nautical history from boat races to sail making. When I first visited back in 2014, three out of the four people working there were named Barbara.

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Pelham Cemetery

Pelham Cemetery is on the eastern shore of the island and it was established in the 1880s. There are older gravestones within its grounds, including well-known Pelham families, early settlers, and veterans of every war since the Civil War. There are a few entrances to the cemetery—including the main one with its beautiful archway—that are always locked, but keep looking until you find the one that is open (I didn't know this the first time I visited, but I figured it out on my second City Island trip). 

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239 Play

A recently new addition to City Island, the people that bring tiny treasures to the Brooklyn Flea under the name dAN's Parents House opened a brick-and-mortar store in a crumbling, 150-year-old house on City Island Avenue (seen above before the restoration). I could have spent hours combing through their rooms filled with nostalgia, especially the drawers filled with vintage McDonald's toys and other intriguing little things.

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Early Ruth Antiques

Unfortunately this antique shop was closed on our most recent visit—a sign was posted that they had just stepped out for coffee but there was no indication that they planned on returning anytime soon. I've only been lucky enough to catch this store open once in the several times I've visited City Island, but what I saw made an impression—especially the 6-foot-tall, sombrero-wearing hot dog statue (which is still there if anyone wants to get me an early birthday present). 

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Royal Tenenbaums' Summer House

I'm not a rabid Wes Anderson fan, but I never pass up the opportunity to visit a famous New York filming location. This 1896 Shingle-style, sea captain's dream house is located on 21 Tier Street, and doubled as the Tenenbaums' summer home on Eagle's Island. 

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Bartow-Pell Mansion

While not technically located on City Island, the Bartow-Pell Mansion is a good place to start your day in the Bronx before you head to the nearby island. Finished in 1842, the Bartow-Pell Mansion is a Greek Revival house is now part of Pelham Bay Park. The house opened as a museum in 1946 and guided or self-guided tours are offered Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday from 12 noon until 4pm for $8. There's even a small family cemetery located on the property, although it was damaged in March when a tree fell on it during a storm. 

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WHAT TO EAT:

City Island Diner

I've never been to City Island early enough for breakfast, but I've kicked off several visits with meals at the City Island Diner. This classic diner, popular with locals, is also where Jerry Seinfeld took Ricky Gervais on an episode of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. 

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Johnny's Reef Restaurant

I don't eat seafood and a place where the ordering procedure is unclear is my personal hell, but I still can't help but love Johnny's Reef, located at the southern tip of City Island. They've been serving gut-busting baskets of fried everything (shrimp, onion rings, mozzarella sticks, clams, etc.) for 70 years—and I bet the seagulls have been swarming around their outdoor patio in quantities straight out of The Birds for just about as long. 

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Lickety Split

If it's oppressively hot, like it often is when I visit City Island, Lickety Split is a great place to cool down with a generous scoop of ice cream and/or an iced coffee. They also have a (very small) restroom, which is never something I take for granted on all-day adventures.

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Seafood Restaurants

While I can't vouch for any of these personally—and I'm also the worst person to ask about seafood restaurants—City Island's main industry now is undoubtedly food. There are several to choose from along City Island Avenue and there's stiff competition if you choose a restaurant like I do, by its signage. 

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See all of my individual posts on City Island here.

City Island: Off-Season

One of the obvious perks of living in New York vs. visiting is being able to visit places I love over and over again. I'm particularly enamored with visiting places in their off-seasons, like Coney Island, and most recently, City Island. City Island feels a little strange and abandoned even in the summer, so I was interested to see if it felt any different in the winter.

The contrast wasn't as drastic as I've noticed with Coney Island, but there was still a noticeable lull in activity compared to when JMP and I went in July. Most of the shops were closed, although most of the restaurants were open, even if their hours were limited. The cemetery, diner and antique store were all open, but the nautical museum was closed for the season.

This was my third trip to City Island in three years, and nothing much seems to change between visits—I've had the same waitress all three times I've eaten at the diner. The only major change is that the City Island bridge is being torn down and rebuilt. I wonder what will become of the delightfully charming "Seaport of the Bronx" sign that used to welcome visitors?

I say that winter is the "off-season" of City Island, but now I'm starting to think that every season in City Island is the off-season. I'll never not be fascinated by a place that is so close to the city, and yet seems as if it's part of another world entirely.

City Island 2015

I was obsessing so much over last year's visit to City Island (I wrote about it here and here) that I couldn't wait any longer to go back. Luckily, JMP was interested in going so we braved the heat and humidity on Sunday and headed up north. I already knew what to expect in terms of the travel involved, so the trip went by quickly and soon we were in the "Seaport of the Bronx" without much trouble at all.

I do wish that it hadn't been so insanely hot, but we made enough stops to make sure we cooled down. In some ways I even kind of enjoyed the heat—City Island just oozes summer to me, so the weather was right on par. However, I definitely want to visit in the off-season because I'm sure the slightly abandoned, strange feeling of the island is only heightened in the winter.

One of the things I love most about City Island is the lack of chain stores. We did notice a Dunkin' Donuts at the northern end and remarked to each other about how out of place it felt amongst all the local restaurants and shops. Sometimes New York can feel as if it's rapidly becoming one big strip mall as small businesses are squeezed out by high rents in favor of banks and Starbucks—it's refreshing to be in a place that feels so authentic.

At one point JMP said something to the effect of "you find the weirdest shit to take photos of..." which is definitely true, and thankfully not that difficult on City Island. I love how insular the island feels, like a true community where neighbors greet each other on the street and know everyone's business. The diner was filled with regulars, but we felt more than welcomed wherever we went, including the diner (the one where Jerry Seinfeld took Ricky Gervais on an episode of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee), the antique shop, the Nautical Museum, the cemetery and the ice cream stand.

Speaking of weird shit, the Early Ruth antique shop was an excellent stop, even if the mannequin hands I wanted weren't for sale (ugh) and the anthropomorphic hot dog statue of my dreams was way out of my price range ($3,500). The sombrero does come with the hot dog, though, in case you're interested.

We didn't spend a large portion of this trip drinking with locals at the Alehouse or eating fried shrimp at Johnny's Reef like last time, but we did walk the entire island. We ended up at Johnny's but we weren't hungry, so we just watched the seagulls which were equal parts fascinating and terrifying. I've never seen so many birds in one place outside of The Birds and it's kind of miraculous that we managed to avoid getting pooped on. We decided to call it a day pretty early since we were both tired from the heat, but I think my second trip to City Island was a success—I'm already dreaming about my third.

Pelham Cemetery

Last year when I went to City Island for the first time, I visited Pelham Cemetery and lamented that the gate was locked. JMP and I went to City Island yesterday, and to our delight found that the cemetery gate was actually open. In hindsight, the gate was probably unlocked the first time I was there too. They all appeared to be locked yesterday, but when I saw a highly faded sign declaring that the cemetery was open until 5pm every day, I investigated further and found that it was latched, but opened easily.

I've had my share of disappointment encountering locked cemeteries, so I felt very fortunate to be able to explore Pelham Cemetery a little further. It's not the most interesting cemetery, headstone-wise, but its location is definitely a selling point.

We found a few interesting headstones, like the graves for the Graves family and a few non-traditional markers made from metal or wood. JMP also pointed out that it would be quite extraordinary if Caroline Darling (b. 1887) was still alive, and then later I found Constance Wolff (b. 1882) who appears to have been blessed with similar longevity.

It felt like such a triumph to just be able to get inside of the cemetery that everything else was really just a bonus. Pelham is very small so we were able to see all of it in a short amount of time. I kept remarking on the amount of stones we saw that included some sort of sea reference, which makes sense for City Island, aka the Seaport of the Bronx.

City Island: Part Two

Lately I've been thinking a lot about our trip to City Island nearly a year ago. I recently revisited the photos I took and have since brought it up multiple times in conversation—I can't seem to get it out of my mind. I posted about the wonderful signage on the island last year, but never followed up with a full recap. Before I go again—real soon, hopefully—I wanted to make sure I fully documented my first trip.

City Island is an island on the western edge of the Long Island Sound, and is part of the Bronx. It's a weird and wonderful place that feels part New England seaside village, part New York City and part like nowhere I had ever been or have been since. The main industry on City Island used to be sail-making, but now its probably tourism, and most of the operating businesses we came across were seafood restaurants. There's also a diner, several bars, a Nautical museum, seaside cemetery and adorable New England-style houses alongside a lot of run-down, abandoned-looking places.

The City Island Diner is completely adorable, and was our first real destination after walking from the northern tip of the island. The food was excellent, although they do close in the middle of the day so go early. Right down the street from the diner is the Nautical Museum, which was a complete delight. The museum guides were all incredibly friendly and adorable—and if I'm remembering correctly, three out of the four people we encountered were named Barbara.

Down the street and around the corner from the museum is the Pelham Cemetery, which has a wonderful, arching iron gate that was—much to my disappointment—closed and locked. The cemetery is pretty small, though, so you can see a lot just by walking the perimeter. It looked very well-maintained and has beautiful views of the water.

We spent the rest of the day exploring the island—dreaming of owning a cedar-shingled home, drooling over vintage signage, trying to catch a glimpse of the water over the fences that line the shore and peeking into cluttered junk shops. We creeped on a house that appeared in the Royal Tenenbaums, and found out that City Island is a pretty popular filming location for television and movies (A Bronx Tale, Butterfield 8, Margot at the Wedding, Law & Order).

I saw a few adorable (stray?) cats wandering around, ate fried shrimp for the first time at Johnny's Reef, drank at a bar for free with true City Island locals, visited a diner, museum and a cemetery (the holy trinity)—it's no wonder that I want to go back so badly.

City Island: Part One

City Island: Part One

Last Sunday Trent, Alisha and I spent the day on City Island in the Bronx. None of us had been there before, so we didn't have much planned except to explore and eventually end the evening stuffing our faces with fried seafood at Johnny's Reef. Johnny's is at the southern tip of the 1.5 mile island, so we started at the northern end and slowly made our way south.

City Island is on the western edge of Long Island Sound and is described as having "the look and feel of a New England fishing village," which is a pretty accurate description. Although, I would add that you never forget for long that you're actually in the Bronx—from the New York City trash cans and public transportation to the barbed wire, chain link fences that prevent you from actually getting anywhere near the shoreline, City Island is a city island through and through.

The thing I noticed first, and loved most, about the island was the abundance of hand-painted and vintage signage on store fronts and restaurants. The one thing I was looking forward to was the City Island Lobster House sign, and I was really disappointed when Alisha mentioned that she thought it had been damaged during hurricane Sandy. Sadly, she was right—the huge neon lobster and "By Land or Sea" portions of the sign are no longer there, but if you never knew they were missing it's still a pretty great sign in its current iteration.

Right next to Johnny's is a stretch of Sammy's restaurants, including the Shrimp Box and Fish Box (ew), both with great neon fish signs that looked even better lit up at night (but I may have been a little too drunk tired to photograph them after dark).

Despite my fear of water and seafood, I have always loved the New England nautical aesthetic and there is no shortage of items to fit that description on City Island. It's hard to decide what I loved more—the weathered wooden signs like the Black Whale's, the kitschy neon signs like the Crab Shanty's, or the hand-painted signs for Johnny's.

Although, if it's patriotism you want, I dare you to find a more American mural than this one we found on the side of a building that featured the Twin Towers, an American Flag, Uncle Sam, a bald eagle (in flight, of course), the Statue of Liberty, a firefighter, a policeman and a scroll of parchment that is probably supposed to be either the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution.