Old trains get new life as artificial reefs in LI water

Old trains get new life as artificial reefs in LI water

In this photo provided the Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, an old rail car is dumped into the ocean a few miles off shore from Point Lookout, N.Y., Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020. The debris will be used to create an artificial reef that will attract fish and other marine life. (Darren McGee/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo via AP)

WANTAGH, N.Y. (AP) — Barges dumped old rail cars into the Atlantic Ocean as part of New York’s efforts to build artificial reefs that attract fish and divers. Gov. Andrew Cuomo spoke Wednesday from the stern of a moving boat as barges began to drop steel rail cars that weighed as much as 21 tons off Long Island’s Jones Beach. Some of the 75 donated cars sank into the nearby Hempstead Reef. Others are headed to the state’s other 11 artificial reefs in hopes of stimulating fisheries. A decades-old state program has used everything from tug boats to materials from the demolished Tappan Zee Bridge to create reefs.

 

Photo credit: Darren McGee/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo via AP