Between the Little Red Lighthouse in Manhattan and Coney Island’s historic lighthouse, you don’t have to leave NYC to revel in maritime history. And now, one of Coney Island’s oldest surviving structures is a step closer to receiving official recognition.
On Tuesday, October 20, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) voted to calendar the Coney Island Lighthouse for consideration as an individual landmark.
Built in 1890, the waterfront structure has guided boats through New York Harbor for more than 135 years and remains in operation today. The proposed designation also includes its neighboring keeper’s house, a historic residence that once sheltered the lighthouse’s full-time caretakers.
A 70-foot lighthouse that’s been guiding boats since 1890
Standing at the western tip of the Coney Island peninsula, the Coney Island Lighthouse was built when growing ferry traffic increased the need for navigational aids along the waterfront.
Its design was modeled after the now-demolished Throgs Neck Lighthouse in the Bronx, while the construction project was overseen by Colonel David Porter Heap, a military engineer responsible for the region’s lighthouse district.
The cast-iron tower rises approximately 70 feet above Gravesend Bay. Inside, an 87-step staircase leads toward the upper gallery and lantern, which originally housed a Fresnel lens capable of projecting light roughly 14 nautical miles.
The lighthouse was automated in 1989, but it continues to serve a navigational purpose for the U.S. Coast Guard.
The proposed landmark site is about more than the tower itself, too.
It includes a two-story, six-room keeper’s dwelling built in the Queen Anne style, recognizable by its wood-shingle exterior, asymmetrical roof, dormer windows, and rounded corner bay. Together, the two structures offer a rare glimpse into the infrastructure that helped keep New York Harbor moving long before modern navigation technology.
The lighthouse’s last civilian keeper lived there for 43 years
One of the most remarkable chapters in the lighthouse’s history belongs to Frank Schubert, who moved into the keeper’s house with his family in 1960.
Although the lighthouse was automated near the end of his career, Schubert continued living on the property until his death in 2003, after 43 years there. He’s widely recognized as the last civilian lighthouse keeper in the United States Coast Guard’s service.
His grandson, Scott Schubert, has continued preserving the family’s connection to the site through a website dedicated to the Coney Island Lighthouse, which documents its history and offers information for those hoping to arrange a visit.
The lighthouse and keeper’s house remain Coast Guard property, with the residence leased to the Sea Gate Association. According to reporting by Gothamist, the family once offered regular tours, but visits have become less frequent since Frank Schubert’s passing.
Could the Coney Island Lighthouse become open to the public?
Here’s the catch: even if the lighthouse becomes an official NYC landmark, that doesn’t automatically mean New Yorkers will be able to stroll up and explore it.
The property sits inside Sea Gate, a private, gated residential community at the western end of Coney Island. That means access is restricted, and the lighthouse has remained largely out of reach for visitors who don’t live in the neighborhood.
Still, landmark designation could help protect the historic site from significant alterations or demolition without the required city review.
And while public access is a separate question, there may be options for those hoping to see the lighthouse up close: the official tour information page recommends contacting the U.S. Coast Guard or Sea Gate Association to inquire about arranging a visit. Tours, however, are not guaranteed.
What’s next?
The LPC’s October 20 vote is only the first step in the designation process.
A public hearing will follow, giving members of the public an opportunity to weigh in before the commission votes on whether to designate the site. Any eventual designation would then proceed through the city’s approval process.
For now, the Coney Island Lighthouse continues doing what it has done for more than a century: guiding vessels through New York Harbor while quietly preserving a piece of Brooklyn history.
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