Donald Gilligan Looks like a quiet country lane in an upstate town, or perhaps Westechester County or Long Island. But it's actually Minnieford Avenue, one of the four north-south thoroughfares in City Island, a thin strip of land in Pelham Bay just east of the Throgs Neck section of the Bronx. It's a part of New York City by law, but it hardly resembles New York City at all.
City Island resembles a New England seaside town transplanted into the five boroughs.
Since it was first settled in 1761 its lifeblood has been the sea, with shipyards, sailmakers and oystermen predominating. It played a large part in New York City's coastal defense until the early 20th Century. City Island's only connection with mainland Bronx is via the City Island Bridge, connecting with Pelham Shore Road and ultimately Pelham Parkway and Bruckner Expressway. Othrwise, City Island is more conveniently reached by boat. City Island was privately owned, first by the Pell family and then by the Palmer family, from 1654 until it became a part of the town of Pelham, in Westchester County, in 1819.