Forgotten by many, Rat Island sits quietly in City Island Harbor. This small island has a unique story. It’s one of the Pelham Islands. Rat Island is halfway between City Island and Hart Island. It sits south of High Island.
This island’s story is quite interesting. It covers about 2.5 acres. That’s roughly 1.0 hectare. The island has an irregular shape with two humps. It is mostly Manhattan schist bedrock. A small channel on the south side was once used for small boats. Today, it is filled with mussel shells.
Look to the west side of Rat Island. You will see a purple beach. This beach is a mix of mussel shells and bird bones. Reed grass also grows here. The highest point is often covered in gull guano. Sometimes, storms flood this high point during high tide. Great blue herons have been spotted on the island, too.
Let’s step back in time. In 1654, Thomas Pell bought Rat Island. Later, during typhoid scares in the 1800s, Pelham, New York, used it as a quarantine hospital. About 40 infected people were housed here. It was called the Pelham Pesthouse. Cobblestone walls and foundations still remain. Storm floods led to its abandonment. Local stories say there was even a lighthouse once.
In 1888, New York City acquired Rat Island. It became a haven for writers and artists in the early 20th century. Dr. H. A. Parmentier bought it in 1908. He leased it to the Mount Vernon Club in 1931.
Edmund “Red” Brennen bought it in 1972. He wanted to do salvage work and store equipment. For years, crane buckets and lattice booms could be seen. In 2009, Brennen put Rat Island up for sale for $300,000.
The New York Times wrote about it in 2011. It was auctioned on October 2, 2011. Alex Schibli, a retired Port Authority worker from City Island, bought it for $160,000. He is Swiss. Schibli considered renaming it Malina Island after his granddaughter.
During summer, a few dozen people might visit Rat Island. The Parks Department used to provide waste drums. Local first responders sometimes practice rescue missions here.
In 2016, a polyester copy of William Tell’s statue was placed on Rat Island. It celebrated the 725th Swiss National Day. The original statue is in Altdorf, Switzerland. In 2017, Schibli was sued over fees for an engineer’s estimate to put a permanent statue on the island.
How did Rat Island get its name? One story says that prisoners escaping from Hart Island, called “rats,” rested here. They rested before swimming to City Island. Another theory is that the typhoid victims attracted vermin. Alex Schibli believes its original name was “Rattle Island.” Noisemakers warned ships.
Today, Rat Island is a unique piece of New York City history. It holds stories of quarantine, art, and even a Swiss statue.