The 15 Absolute Coolest Islands in New York

New York is home to several cool islands to explore within the metropolitan area and throughout the state. Keep on reading to learn more about the 15 absolute coolest islands in New York.

1. Manhattan

The borough of Manhattan is perhaps the most famous island in all of New York and that is what makes it one of the absolute coolest islands in New York. It is one of the five boroughs of New York City. Water surrounds Manhattan. The Hudson River is on the west, the East River is on the east, and the Harlem River separates Manhattan from the mainland in the north. While Manhattan is the smallest borough, it is the most densely populated. Manhattan has an estimated population of 1.6 million people. The other four boroughs are the Bronx, Staten Island, Brooklyn, and Queens.

2. Governors Island

Manhattan has several small islands, including Governors Island. It is a 172-acre island located in New York Harbor. You can get to Governors Island in just minutes by taking the NYC Ferry from Brooklyn or Manhattan. Many people visit Governors Island for its park with dozens of historic buildings, significant monuments, and arts and culture. No one lives full-time on Governors Island.

3. Randall’s Island

New Yorkers know it as Randall’s Island, but it is called Randalls and Wards Islands. They are conjoined islands located within the Manhattan borough, separated from Manhattan by the Harlem River. The two islands used to be separated, with Randalls Island to the north of Wards Island. However, in the early 1960s, the channel between them, Little Hell Gate, was filled in. About 1,650 people are living on the island, but most of the island is parkland.

Randall’s Island also has a history of housing asylums, hospitals, and cemeteries. Today, there are several facilities and programs on Randall’s Island including the Manhattan Psychiatric Center, Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center, several homeless shelters, the FDNY Fire Academy, two state police stations, a wastewater treatment plant, and a daycare. Randall’s Island is perhaps best known for Icahn Stadium and three annual music festivals: Governors Ball Music Festival, Panorama Music Festival, and Electric Zoo Festival.

4. Roosevelt Island

Roosevelt Island is another one of Manhattan’s several small islands. It is located in the East River between Manhattan and Queens. About 11,700 people live on the two-mile-long island. Roosevelt Island offers a quick escape from the hustle and bustle of Manhattan. There are many parks, arts and culture, and sightseeing opportunities. Visitors find less crowds and unobstructed views of the Manhattan skyline. It is not that difficult to get to Roosevelt Island. From Manhattan, you can take the Roosevelt Island Tramway, which is an aerial tramway that crosses the East River. From Queens, you can drive, walk, or take a bus to the island by crossing the Roosevelt Island Bridge.

5. City Island

City Island is one of the absolute coolest islands in New York. It is also one of the coolest neighborhoods in New York! The small island is part of the Bronx and has a population of about 4,400 people. City Island is a quaint beach escape that might make you forget you are in New York City. It is a fishing village in the Bronx full of yacht clubs and waterfront restaurants. There are a lot of fresh seafood dining options and water activities.

6. North Brother Island

North Brother Island is part of the Bronx. It is one of the absolute coolest islands in New York mainly because it is one of the weirdest islands in New York. It was uninhabited until 1885 when Riverside Hospital, which played a crucial role in treating and isolating patients with smallpox and typhoid, opened there.

Mary Mallon was an Irish-born American cook believed to have infected between 51 and 122 people with typhoid fever. She was the first person in the U.S. identified as an asymptomatic carrier of the pathogenic bacteria Salmonella typhi, which causes Typhoid fever. From 1915 to 1938, she was forcibly quarantined on North Brother Island and became known as Typhoid Mary. She died after nearly 30 years in quarantine.

Currently, North Brother Island is abandoned and off-limits, but it is a sanctuary for herons and other shorebirds. There has been an ongoing debate about how to repurpose the empty island and open it to the public.

7. South Brother Island

South Brother Island is also part of the Bronx and uninhabited. It was a dump in the mid-19th century. In the early 1900s, Jacob Ruppert, an early owner of the New York Yankees, owned a summer house on the island, but it burned down in 1909. Then in 2007, it became a wildlife sanctuary under the management of the city’s Parks Department and the Bronx Zoo. The dense brush on South Brother Island supports nesting colonies of several species of birds including the black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax), the great egret (Ardea alba), the snowy egret (Egretta thula), and the double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus).

8. Long Island

Long Island is a large, densely populated island, with a population of over 8 million people, that stretches east from New York City. The boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn are technically located on Long Island on the west side. To the east is the Hamptons, with Montauk at the end.

9. Fire Island

Fire Island is a part of Long Island and one of the absolute coolest islands in New York. It is a very thin island in the Atlantic Ocean located off the southern shore of Long Island. Less than 450 people live on this island year-round, but in the summer that number increases to about 20,000 people. One of the things visitors love the most about Fire Island is its lack of paved public roads along the Fire Island National Seashore. To explore, you have to walk or take water taxis.

10. Fishers Island

Fishers Island is part of Southold, which is located at the eastern end of the Long Island Sound. You can easily get there from New London, Connecticut, by taking a ferry. Less than 300 people live on Fishers Island full-time but the population rises to about 2,000 people in the summer.

11. Shelter Island

Shelter Island is yet another one of Long Island’s islands. The 27-square-mile island is located near the eastern end of Long Island and has a population of about 3,200 people. You can only get to Shelter Island by ferry from Greenport or North Haven. Visitors love Shelter Island’s natural beauty, hiking, biking, bird-watching opportunities, and kayaking.

12. Grand Island

Moving out of the New York metropolitan area, Grand Island is one of the absolute coolest islands in New York. It is located in Erie County and has a population of about 21,000 people. Niagara Falls is located only seven miles away from Grand Island. There are many fun things to do in Grand Island including visiting Beaver Island State Park, Buckhorn Island State Park, Kelly’s Country Store, and Grand Island Fun Center.

13. Thousand Islands

The Thousand Islands are some of the absolute coolest islands in New York. They are a North American archipelago of 1,864 islands that straddles the Canada–U.S. border. The U.S. islands are located in New York, while the Canadian islands are in Ontario. The islands range in size from just over one square foot to 40 square miles. Keep on reading to learn about some of the coolest islands within the Thousand Islands.

14. Wellesley Island

Wellesley Island is one of the Thousand Islands and one of the absolute coolest islands in New York. Wellesley Island State Park includes the largest camping complex in the region. It has 432 campsites. Visitors love to go fishing in Wellesley Island State Park. Wellesley Island is one of the largest of the Thousand Islands and is home to a growing number of year-round residents. Its full-time population hovers just under 400 people. However, the population increases a lot during the summer.

15. Just Room Enough Island

Just Room Enough Island is located in the Thousand Islands chain. It is known for being the smallest inhabited island, measuring about 3,300 square feet. The island is part of Alexandria Bay, a village within the town of Alexandria in Jefferson County. To be considered an island in the Thousand Islands region, the land must be larger than one square foot, must remain above the water level year-round, and must have at least one tree. Just Room Enough Island meets these criteria; it has a house, a tree, shrubs, and a small beach. The Sizeland family purchased it in the 1950s as an island getaway.

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