Glass Bottle Beach — Attraction in New York

Dead Horse Bay part of Barren Island started to be used as a landfill since late 1890s with 2nd phase of landfilling from 1948 to mid 1950s. Beach erosion has exposed the layer from 1950s pretty early, so for last 60+ years various artifacts of the dump are being continuously exposed to Jamaica Bay waters. Gatherers are combing beach for antique bottles that could be resold on online marketplaces. In last 5 years most of the trails leading to the beach from Flatbush Ave have become overgrown with poison ivy and sumac, that present even bigger immediate danger than some radioactive content of the landfill. Going along the shore with solid boots is best bet for adventurers willing to tread over the beaten glass to check on the most polluted...

This may not be your typical weekend adventure- however if you are into exploring 'different' places- this is a stop for you- part of Gateway National Recreation Area- this beach rides next to Dead Horse Bay- so named for... you guessed it- all the dead horses that were disposed here in one way or another. Wear footwear that is resistant to puncture. Theres glass.... everywhere!! Rangers across the street at the Airfield informed me that it's not permissible to take bottles from the beach. Regardless of this fact theres bottles and countless other debris across the shoreline. When the waves crash- you can hear the glass pounding against eachother in the waves. It's an eerie experience! Check out several news stories about the history...

The terrible beauty of Glass Bottle Beach definitely can't be seen by everyone. For the absolute majority of people, it's a nasty, dangerous, polluted, and disgusting place. For me, this 100-year-old dump site is a piece of history with hundreds of interesting artifacts lying in plain view. Unfortunately it also clearly shows that in the last hundred years, America did almost nothing to improve waste management and recycling. Hundreds of thousands of pounds of glass and metal have been dumped here to rot slowly. Now glass and metal have been largely replaced by plastic, which is being dumped in exactly the same manner as...