Year first constructed 1901 Automated 1985 Opened 1901 Construction Cast iron Added to NRHP 9 January 2007 | Year first lit 1901 Height 17 m Area 404.7 m² Material Cast iron | |
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Location west of Ambrose Channel
lower New York Bay Foundation Concrete/cast-iron caisson Tower shape Frustum of a cone sparkplug Similar Old Orchard Shoal Light, Staten Island Light, New Dorp Light, Elm Tree Beacon Light, Cape Vincent Light | ||
West Bank Light, officially West Bank Front Range Light, is in Lower New York Bay and acts as the front range light for the Ambrose Channel. It is currently active and not open to the public.
The tower was built in 1901 and heightened in 1908. Staten Island Light serves as the rear range.
On May 29, 2007, the Secretary of the Interior identified West Bank Light, offshore in Ambrose Channel–Lower New York Bay, as surplus under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000. The property was described as:
55 ft. tower (1901) off the southerly end of West Bank, NY on 0.10 acre submerged land, cast iron conical “spark plug” style light sits on a concrete/cast iron caisson. Two floors, five stories high keeper’s dwelling, approx. 1500 SF. Markings: brown on black base. Riprap breakwater extends westward approx. 40 feet to provide mooring space, landing platform. Can be seen from South Beach, Staten Island and from Coney Island boardwalk; accessible by boat only. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places and must be maintained according to the Secretary of Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation. Historic covenants will be incorporated into the Quitclaim Deed; however, no submerged land will be conveyed under the Quitclaim Deed. U.S. Coast Guard shall retain an easement for an Arc of Visibility and an unrestricted right of access in, to and across the property to maintain, operate, service, repair and install equipment as necessary to support its aid to navigation mission. Additionally, the USCG shall retain the unrestricted right to relocate or add any aids to navigation, or communications towers and equipment (along with necessary right of ingress/egress), or make any changes on any portion of the property as may be necessary for navigation/public safety purposes.
No group was identified under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act as willing and able to preserve the West Bank Light, and on June 5, 2008, the General Services Administration placed the light up for sale via an auction. The initial bid was $10,000 and the auction ended on August 27, 2008 at a final bid of $245,000. That was not the end of the story, as the sale did not close. The light was auctioned a second time in September 2010 and finally sold for $195,000 to Sheridan Reilly.