Columbia Island (New York)

Columbia Island (formerly Little Pea Island), is an island in the Long Island Sound and part of New Rochelle, New York. It is situated off the south-eastern coast of Davids Island, immediately adjacent to Pea Island. Before sea walls and other structures were built on the island, the exposed rock varied in size from about one acre to 175 square feet depending on the tide.

View of the island from Pelham Bay Park (2014)
Columbia Island
Geography
LocationLong Island Sound
Coordinates40.877322°N 73.762354°W / 40.877322; -73.762354
Area2 acres (0.81 ha)
Administration
United States
StateNew York
CountyWestchester
CityNew Rochelle
Demographics
Population0
Pop. density0/km2 (0/sq mi)

It was once owned by the Iselin family who sold it to the Huguenot Yacht Club along with Pea Island in 1936. Three years later, the club sold Little Pea Island to the Columbia Broadcasting System, which appropriately renamed it "Columbia". As a result of engineering surveys designating the area around New Rochelle and Port Washington on Long Island Sound as the ideal locality for a radio transmitter to serve the metropolitan New York area, new stations were constructed on these sites by both the Columbia ("CBS") and National ("NBC") broadcasting systems in 1940. CBS purchased the island as the site for a new broadcast antenna tower for WCBS (then known by the call sign WABC).[1] [2]

CBS spent approximately $500,000 to construct the transmitter building with emergency housing for ten workers, and the 410-foot (125 m) broadcast tower. The station contained a 50,000-watt transmitter housed in a 75-square-foot (7.0 m2) copper-walled building. There also was a 5,000-watt transmitter unit for emergency use. Electric power was supplied through two submarine cables, which were connected to separate power plants to prevent interruption of service. Emergency generators were installed on the island for protection against power failure.[3] The men who operated the station lived within a grounded metal shell under which were living quarters for engineers, workshops, electrical units that supplied tube voltages, and the backup generator.[4] The transmitter remained in operation until 1963, when it became obsolete, and the station was moved to nearby High Island.

CBS's work to build a high-power broadcasting station included drilling through bedrock to a source of fresh water, found at a depth of 910 feet (280 m).[2]

The island was then purchased by the show-business couple Peter Lind Hayes and Mary Healy, who broadcast a breakfast conversation show from their home there. It was part of a package that included a strip of waterfront property, a speedboat, and a tugboat. The couple later gave the island to the College of New Rochelle.[5] In 2005, the then-current owner of the island sought to demolish the old transmitter building and replace it with a private residence. [6]

Pathologist Al Sutton bought Columbia Island in 2007. To make the island more livable, he constructed an off-the-grid "green" home within the concrete building with solar panels.[7] In June 2019, Columbia Island and nearby Pea Island were jointly put on sale with a list price of $13 million.[8][9] According to The New York Times, Sutton described the property as a "money pit", constantly needed more money to maintain.[10] Sutton spent $8 million on the property.[11]

References
  1. "CBS on an Island". Time. 1940-09-02. Archived from the original on March 6, 2008. Retrieved 2007-03-13.
  2. Kennedy Jr., T.R (1941-10-12). "Radio 'Island' Comes to Life" (PDF, fee required). The New York Times. p. X12. Retrieved 2007-03-13. (Reprint)
  3. "NEW STATIONS UNDER WAY WEAF and WABC Will Take to the Air From Sites on Long Island Sound". The New York Times. August 25, 1940. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  4. Kennedy Jr., T.R (1941-10-12). "Radio 'Island' Comes to Life" (PDF, fee required). The New York Times. p. X12. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  5. "Radio-TV Couple Donate an Island To Catholic College". The New York Times. Jan 13, 1966. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  6. Kettner, Susan. "Board of Appeals on Zoning Agenda 6/7/2005 - 7:00PM". City of New Rochelle, NY. Archived from the original on 2006-01-02. Retrieved 2006-03-13. (Site defunct prior to 10/2010)
  7. Steven Castle (2012-10-29). "Self-Powering an Island with Solar and Solar Storage". Green Tech Advocates. Retrieved 2019-07-02. The island is only about 150 by 150 feet and almost all of its space is taken up by a concrete bunker that formerly housed TV transmission equipment for CBS (Columbia Broadcasting Service), hence the island's name. From afar you might think it resembles a mini Alcatraz.
  8. Allen Kim (2019-06-25). "You can buy this private island near NYC for $13 million". CNN. Retrieved 2019-07-01. Located just off of New Rochelle, New York, Sutton's 5,626-square-foot home on the island includes four bedrooms, two bathrooms and an open kitchen. The island residence is also self-sustaining, with solar panels on the roof to provide energy, a desalination machine to provide clean water and a septic system that is maintained by a private service.
  9. "Columbia & Pea Islands". Sotheby's International Realty. Retrieved 2019-07-02. Head up to the roof and enjoy views of NYC and the City of New Rochelle from your own perch atop this self-sustaining private island in Long Island Sound.
  10. James Barron (2019-07-02). "He's Spent Just One Night on His Private Island. He's Had Enough". The New York Times. p. A15. Retrieved 2019-07-01. A few miles away, Dr. Sutton made owning his own island sound more like the movie "The Money Pit" or the sitcom "Bless This Mess" than something relaxing and idyllic. He said he put money into necessities, like a decommissioned Navy vessel to get to his island and a barge that can carry about one tractor-trailer load of material from the mainland.
  11. Jimmy Im (2019-06-22). "$13 million self-sustainable private island near Manhattan is for sale—take a look". CNBC. Retrieved 2019-07-01. For 11 years, the current 85-year-old owner Al Sutton, a real estate developer and former physician, spent $8 million to build a sustainable home on the island, according to Robb Report, with the intention to potentially live in it.

40.87754°N 73.76577°W / 40.87754; -73.76577

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