South Beach.
Ed Fanuzzi found this whistle in the waters off of Staten Island; he believes it once belonged to his uncle, a champion lifeguard. It was included in the Silent Beaches, Untold Stories exhibit at St. John's; you can see it here.
Dead Horse Bay.
This baby doll leg was found in the salty brine of DHB and included in the Silent Beaches, Untold Stories exhibit at St. John's University in 2013. Check it out here.
Arthur Kill.
Arthur Kill, the harbor between Staten Island and New Jersey, is home to 1600 bars of silver, each weighing 100 pounds. How’d they get there? In 1903, a barge capsized, spilling its cargo. Some were recovered, but the rest are still down there and valued at about $26 million.
Bronx River.
The Grand Piano isn’t alone either–another piano was found in the Bronx River!
Lower New York Bay.
We’d totally understand if you wanted to write about this one. You wouldn’t be alone.
Dead Horse Bay.
This toy appears to be a kangaroo-mouse hybrid. Although he is missing an ear, his little light-bulb heart is still intact
Arthur Kill.
How does a city wind up with a graveyard of tugboats? You can pursue the real answer or invent your own.
Bronx River.
In the 1980s, when Bronx River clean up efforts were in full swing, a member of a conservation crew for the Bronx River Restoration Project came across a human skull and reported it to the police. Is it an artifact of violence, neglect, or something else?
Great Kills Park Beach.
UNY editor Nicole Haroutunian spotted this mysterious artifact during a casual autumn stroll along Staten Island's shore.
Dead Horse Bay.
Dead Horse Bay marks the site of what once was Barren Island, where for decades the city’s trash and daily animal dead were rendered into profitable byproducts. Today, the area that was once a marshland is now Floyd Bennett Field, bordered by Dead Horse Bay, where bits of trash from the past century continually wash ashore and provide fodder for collectors, explorers, writers, and artists. See a photo below.
Coney Island.
We don’t really know the story behind these, so make one up and send it to us.
Gowanus Canal.
Scientists are studying this goo—a mixture of bacteria, protozoans, and contaminants—for its medical potential, as it’s managed to thrive in one of the most polluted canals in the city.
Hudson River.
A cabin cruiser and a 19th century sailing ship get it on.
The Rockaways.
Like the subway cars, a fleet of ice cream trucks were used to build an artificial reef to lure schools of fish. The vehicles that once delivered Good Humor ice cream bars are now home to black sea bass, porgy, bergall, hake, and cod.
Coney Island.
The car was discovered belly-up in 1978, a few feet from the end of the old Steeplechase Pier.
Coney Island.
Steeplechase Park, like Dreamland before it, was one of the great amusement parks of Coney Island. The feature attraction was the Steeplechase Ride, a horse race that circled the Pavilion of Fun. A series of accidents, rivaling factions within the Tilyou family, who owned the park, and a rise in crime led to the park’s closure in 1964. As far as we know, this submerged pier is all that remains of the park.
Coney Island Creek.
The submarine was built by Brooklyn resident Jerry Bianco in 1967 to dive the ill-fated Andrea Doria off the coast of Nantucket. Though the Quester never made it to Nantucket, the vessel is a beloved neighborhood site and a home for marine life and birds. See a photo here.
Bronx River.
The fact that we have no other information just makes these objects more evocative.
East River.
The table sits upright, as if waiting to be set, near 16th Street. We’d accept a hundred stories about this one.
Hudson River.
In 1865, a train carrying passenger baggage plunged over the Peekskill drawbridge, which was open, and plummeted into the river. Two young stowaways survived.