Located at the western end of Coney Island, in an area formerly known as Norton’s Point, the Coney Island Lighthouse has watched over Lower New York Bay since it was built in 1890. The light, 75 feet above sea level, is a fourth-order Fresnel lens; it flashes red every five seconds, and is visible for 16 miles. Additionally, this working lighthouse is also one of the Atlantic Coast’s special radio beacon stations for the calibration of ship’s directional signals.

Along with the original tower, which is composed of a white skeleton tower topped by a black watch room and light chamber, the site also has an adjoining keeper’s house and storage shed. The lighthouse is most famous for its dedicated keeper Frank P. Schubert. Mr. Schubert was America’s last civilian lighthouse keeper working for the Coast Guard, and he served at the Coney Island Lighthouse from 1960 until his death in 2003. In a charming interview with The New York Times published in April 2002 titled “So, It’s a Lighthouse. Now Leave Me Alone” he mentioned how the magnitude of attention of that year was inexplicable, and it was perhaps due to post-September 11 nostalgia for the old, simple days.

Located on Lighthouse Hill in Staten Island, in an idyllic neighborhood surrounded by Victorian turn-of-the century houses, the only Frank Lloyd Wright designed house in New York City, and the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art, the Staten Island Range House lighthouse is an octagonal-shaped brick tower, with a rusticated limestone base, still in operation, manned by the Coast Guard. Established in 1909, and first lit in 1912 with a kerosene lamp, the lighthouse aids ships entering the Ambrose Channel, between Staten Island and Brooklyn, on the opposite side of New York Harbor as the Coney Island lighthouse. In 1939 the lamp was updated with a 1,000 watt bulb and a Fresnel range lamp, and it’s now automated.

In 1968 the lighthouse was designated a National Historic Landmark and the designation report notes that in addition to its “distinguished” architecture that “one would expect to be on the rocky coast of New England than within the boundaries of New York City” the lighthouse “served for over fifty years guiding ships into one of the world’s busiest harbors and that it stands as a reminder of the men and women in the lighthouse service who have devoted their lives to the safe entry and departure of ships in and out of this great American port.” The beloved local historian, Joseph N. Esposito (1938-2005), took care of the light from 1992 to 2001, accepting no salary in exchange for his labor until his health forced him to retire. The National Lighthouse Museum received stewardship of the lighthouse tower and yard in 2019 from the U.S. Coast Guard.

This lighthouse has a slightly different history, and meaning. The Titanic Memorial Lighthouse is a memorial to honor the passengers, officers, and crew who perished when the steamship RMS Titanic sank after collision with an iceberg. It was originally erected on the roof of the Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI), 240 feet above sea level, at the corner of South Street and Coenties Slip (now Vietnam Veterans Plaza), on April 15, 1913.

It was built by public subscription after the group in attendance at the ceremony to celebrate laying the cornerstone of their new building at 25 South Street made a plan to build a lighthouse on top of the building to commemorate the heroism displayed by many in the tragedy, as well as remember those who lost their lives. From 1913 to 1967 the time ball at the top of the lighthouse would drop down the pole to signal twelve noon to the ships in the harbor. This time ball mechanism was activated by a telegraphic signal from the National Observatory in Washington D.C. The time ball consisted of a bronze frame, four feet across covered with canvas that was painted black for maximum visibility, and it was put into operation November 1, 1913.

The lighthouse remained in its original location until 1968, when, after 55 years of service, SCI moved its headquarters to 15 State Street and the old building, along with the Lighthouse, was set to be demolished. A group of concerned preservationists persuaded the demolition company to donate the lighthouse to the South Street Seaport Museum. The tower was donated to the Seaport Museum by the Kaiser-Nelson Steel and Salvage Corporation in July of 1968, and it was erected in her current location in May 1976 with funds provided by the Exxon Corporation.

Lightship LV-87/WAL-512, also known as Ambrose, (visible in the picture in the right center with her final letter "SE") was built in 1907 as a floating lighthouse to guide ships safely from the Atlantic Ocean into the broad mouth of lower New York Bay between Coney Island, NY, and Sandy Hook, NJ–an area filled with sand bars and shoals perilous to approaching vessels. From 1908 until 1932 she marked the entrance to the Ambrose Channel, a deeper channel dredged in the early 20th century to allow larger ocean liners safe access into New York Harbor. Lightship Ambrose served a very real function for the millions of immigrants who would go on to pass her on their journey into New York Harbor. In addition to being the first indication that they were arriving in America, Ambrose was also the finish line in a great race to get into New York ahead of closing quotas limiting immigration.