• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

U Thant Island: Why Nobody Can Visit New York’s Smallest Island

December 26, 2023 by Deborah Bloomfield

U Thant Island, officially known as Belmont Island, is a miniature spit of land that sits between New York’s Manhattan and Queens. It was heaved into existence when a piano manufacturer began construction on a tunnel beneath the East River, dumping the resulting materials until a half-acre island emerged from the water.

The tunnel project was started by piano maker William Steinway in the 1890s and completed by August Belmont Junior, explains Atlas Obscura, which is why the resulting landfill became officially known as Belmont Island when it was finished in the early 1900s. However, come 1977, it was rented and renamed by the Buddhist group the “Peace Meditation At The United Nations” in honor of Secretary-General U Thant of the UN, three years after his death.

Advertisement

The metal structures that can be seen sticking up from the small patch of greenery on U Thant Island include the “oneness arch,” a lattice of steel tubing that stretches up to 9 meters (30 feet) above the ground. A vessel is buried underneath it containing some of U Thant’s statements about peace and spirituality, as well as his favorite tie clasp.

A symbol of spirituality, the “living shrine” was visited periodically by the Peace Mediation At The UN group for ceremonies and maintenance. This continued until around the 1990s due to the island’s proximity to the United Nations building that was hiking up its security at this time.

u thant island sign

Secretary General U Thant’s dedication on U Thant Island.

Google “U Thant Island” and you’ll see a lot of mention of the fact that nobody’s allowed to visit it, but it’s not just because of security. Despite its small size, U Thant Island is a vital habitat for some of New York’s protected birds. Its remote location and vegetation mean it’s a convenient spot for nesting and a safe place to rest for birds that have made a long journey to reach it.

In a city as busy and urban as New York, even small sanctuaries like U Thant Island represent a vital habitat.

Advertisement

Migrating birds that visit U Thant Island include cormorants, and the New York State Government’s efforts to conserve them have seen the population double from 2000 to 2011. The surrounding waters are a popular spot for fishers trying to catch deep-swimming striped bass and bluefish, but since the island is officially a Recognized Ecological Complex under the city’s Waterfront Revitalization Program, it’s a no-go zone for human feet.

The Hudson River is a spawning ground for striped bass, which are an anadromous fish, meaning they have to move between saltwater and freshwater to breed. Therefore, U Thant Island in the East River – that’s attached to the Hudson, and isn’t technically a river – is probably a passing point for bass trying to get there. They’ll have to contend with the voracious appetites of predatory bluefish that use their sharp teeth and powerful jaws to munch on everything from fish to crustaceans and squid.

So as you can see, U Thant Island’s got a lot going on for a small spit of landfill.

[H/T: Untapped New York]

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. Paris ramps up security as jihadist attacks trial starts
  2. Cricket-‘Western bloc’ has let Pakistan down, board chief says
  3. Ancient Bison Found In Permafrost Is So Well Preserved Scientists Want To Clone It
  4. Where Inside Us Do We Feel Love?

Source Link: U Thant Island: Why Nobody Can Visit New York's Smallest Island

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • Martian Mudstone Has Features That Might Be Biosignatures, New Brain Implant Can Decode Your Internal Monologue, And Much More This Week
  • Crocodiles Weren’t All Blood-Thirsty Killers, Some Evolved To Be Plant-Eating Vegetarians
  • Stratospheric Warming Event May Be Unfolding In The Southern Polar Vortex, Shaking Up Global Weather Systems
  • 15 Years Ago, Bees In Brooklyn Appeared Red After Snacking Where They Shouldn’t
  • Carnian Pluvial Event: It Rained For 2 Million Years — And It Changed Planet Earth Forever
  • There’s Volcanic Unrest At The Campi Flegrei Caldera – Here’s What We Know
  • The “Rumpelstiltskin Effect”: When Just Getting A Diagnosis Is Enough To Start The Healing
  • In 1962, A Boy Found A Radioactive Capsule And Brought It Inside His House — With Tragic Results
  • This Cute Creature Has One Of The Largest Genomes Of Any Mammal, With 114 Chromosomes
  • Little Air And Dramatic Evolutionary Changes Await Future Humans On Mars
  • “Black Hole Stars” Might Solve Unexplained JWST Discovery
  • Pretty In Purple: Why Do Some Otters Have Purple Teeth And Bones? It’s All Down To Their Spiky Diets
  • The World’s Largest Carnivoran Is A 3,600-Kilogram Giant That Weighs More Than Your Car
  • Devastating “Rogue Waves” Finally Have An Explanation
  • Meet The “Masked Seducer”, A Unique Bat With A Never-Before-Seen Courtship Display
  • Alaska’s Salmon River Is Turning Orange – And It’s A Stark Warning
  • Meet The Heaviest Jelly In The Seas, Weighing Over Twice As Much As A Grand Piano
  • For The First Time, We’ve Found Evidence Climate Change Is Attracting Invasive Species To Canadian Arctic
  • What Are Microfiber Cloths, And How Do They Clean So Well?
  • Stowaway Rat That Hopped On A Flight From Miami Was A “Wake-Up Call” For Global Health
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version