High Island, New York
High Island is a small private island, part of
The Pelham Islands group. It is next to
City Island between
City Island Harbor and
Pelham Bay in
Long Island Sound. It is an island at most times, but is connected to City Island by a
sandbar that emerges at very
low tide. It is also connected to City Island by a small private bridge.
130 years ago, High Island was known as Spectacle Island. More recently, it was privately owned with summer rental cottages and a lifesaving station until the late
1950s, when it was purchased to use for
radio transmission towers.
As of 2006, the entire island and both transmitters are owned by CBS Radio (formerly
Infinity Broadcasting), a division of
CBS Corporation. It houses the transmitters and antenna towers for both
WCBS Newsradio 880 AM and
WFAN Sportsradio 660 AM (previously known as WNBC). The island is currently uninhabited, but is attended 24 hours a day by personnel manning the transmission equipment. Previous to being on High Island, this equipment was located on nearby
Columbia Island.
The taller of the towers is 549 feet. WCBS and WFAN have applied to raise the other tower to the same height, but the local community of City Island is opposed to any such improvements. The case is in litigation. The proximity of these two AM radio stations causes interference on telephones, stereos and televisions on nearby City Island.
On August 27, 1967, a small private airplane
crashed into the radio tower, destroying the antenna and taking WCBS and WNBC off the air. Both stations were able to borrow nearby transmission facilities for about a week, until an emergency tower could be erected on High Island. The permanent replacement was built with a second (shorter) tower as an emergency backup.
High Island is only a transmitter island. It does not have any studios or any other rf broadcast, other than the two AM Radio Station. All broadcast studios are in Manhattan in NYC.
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Satellite Map of High Island*
Satellite Map of High Island*
WCBS Newsradio 88AM*
WFAN Sportsradio 66AM*
CBS Radio*
Jim Hawkins WCBS WFAN Transmitter Tour
