Safety Concerns May Keep Uptown Little Red Lighthouse Doors Shut

UPPER MANHATTAN, NY — Children who make an annual short-legged pilgrimage to the Little Red Lighthouse might have to brace themselves for disappointment this fall as crumbling conditions at the iconic site threaten a rare chance to step inside, Patch has learned.

The Little Red Lighthouse Festival in Fort Washington Park is still slated for Oct. 8, but Parks department officials have yet to decide whether or not they can safely open the lighthouse doors, a spokesperson told Patch.

"Our goal is to welcome guests to the lighthouse observation deck during the annual festival this October," the spokesperson said. "Our ability to do so is still being determined."

The spokesperson added that the lighthouse does not have any structural issues, and that the problem is actually with loose safety netting that must first be fixed.

New Yorkers will lose one of few opportunities to climb to the top of the lighthouse and peer onto the Hudson River should the city decide against opening the doors.

According to residents in an uptown Facebook group, a pair of Park Rangers have been telling park-goers to expect the worst — that there are no plans to open the structure for the event due to necessary maintenance.

Local Emily Miller shared photos of the little lighthouse underneath the George Washington Bridge that show rust, warping and big chunks of flaking paint.

"The Little Red Lighthouse is a neighborhood treasure and something we’re all proud of," the uptown resident said. "It was always so fun to see families come to the festival; it would be sad to have the festival this year and not be able to take the kids up and see the looks of wonder on their faces as they look up and down the river."

The Parks Department spokesperson told Patch that the door is being inspected "for possible temporary ways to address" it. It is unclear what exactly that means.

"Shame they won't spruce it up for the occasion," a person wrote on an Upper Manhattan Facebook thread about the lighthouse.

The Little Red Lighthouse was first constructed in New Jersey in 1880, and then reconstructed in its current Upper Manhattan location in 1921 to improve navigational aids on the Hudson River.

The Coast Guard decommissioned the lighthouse in 1948 due to its shine becoming obsolete next to the lights of the George Washington Bridge, which opened in 1931.

The lighthouse was then going to be auctioned off, but a wave of public support following a children's book called "The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge" written by Hildegarde Swift and Lynd Wards changed its course.

The Coast Guard ended up giving the lighthouse to the New York City Parks Department, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.