Fire Island is the large center island of the outer barrier islands parallel to the South Shore of Long Island in the U.S. state of New York.
Occasionally, the name is used to refer collectively to not only the central island, but also Long Beach Barrier Island, Jones Beach Island, and Westhampton Island, since the straits that separate these islands are ephemeral. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy once again divided Fire Island into two islands. Together, these two islands are about 31 miles (50 km) long and vary between 520 and 1,310 feet (160 and 400 m) wide. The land area of Fire Island is 9.6 square miles (24.9 km2).[1]
Fire Island is part of Suffolk County. It lies within the towns of Babylon, Islip, and Brookhaven, containing two villages and several hamlets. All parts of the island not within village limits are part of the Fire Island census-designated place (CDP), which had a permanent population of 777 at the 2020 census,[2] though that expands to thousands of residents and tourists during the summer. The neighborhoods of Cherry Grove and Fire Island Pines are known as gay-friendly tourist destinations.[3]
- ^ Consisting of the Fire Island CDP plus the villages of Saltaire and Ocean Beach: "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Fire Island CDP, New York". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved December 28, 2012."Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Saltaire village, New York". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Retrieved December 28, 2012.[dead link]"Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Ocean Beach village, New York". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Retrieved December 28, 2012.[dead link]
- ^ "Fire Island CDP, New York". Census Data Explorer. U.S. Census Bureau. July 22, 2024.
- ^ Erik Piepenburg (June 17, 2022). "Searching for a Gay Getaway (Not Fire Island)". The New York Times. Retrieved June 7, 2023.