Things to do nearSouth Brother Island

South Brother Island is a small, uninhabited island of roughly three acres sitting in the Hell Gate section of the East River, administratively part of the Bronx. Its neighbor, North Brother Island, lies just half a kilometer to the north and shares a similarly layered and largely forgotten history within New York City's geography.

The island was once owned by baseball legend Babe Ruth, who used it briefly as a private retreat in the early twentieth century. Before that, it changed hands several times without ever developing the kind of institutional presence that defined North Brother Island. Over decades, vegetation overtook whatever structures existed, and today the island is essentially a self-willed woodland surrounded by tidal water, home to nesting birds and dense undergrowth.

Because the island is closed to the public and owned by the city, most people experience South Brother Island visually, from kayaks on the river or from the shores of Randalls and Wards Islands. The surrounding waters attract anglers and paddlers, and the island itself is a recognized urban wildlife sanctuary. For anyone drawn to New York's stranger, quieter edges, South Brother Island offers a compelling reminder that wildness persists even at the heart of one of the world's largest cities.