Rat Island is a privately owned island in New York City. It is approximately in size and located in City Island Harbor, which is a part of Long Island Sound. It is about halfway between City Island and Hart Island and south of High Island. It is one of the Pelham Islands. Description The small irregular island is about in area. It has a dual-humped appearance and is mostly a lump of Manhattan schist bedrock. There is a small channel that cuts into the bedrock on the southern side of the tiny island that was used for launching small boats. This channel is filled with mussel shells. There is a purple-bluish "beach" made of mussel shells mixed with bird bones on the west side of the island with some reed grass. The highest point on the island is usually covered in gull bird guano and is underwater during high tide storms. The largest inhabitant of the island is usually a great blue heron that sleeps on the island during daytime. History Rat Island was included in the purchase by Thomas Pell in 1654. During the typhoid fever scares of the 1800s, Rat Island was used by Pelham, New York, as a typhoid quarantine hospital for about 40 infected people called the "Pelham Pesthouse". The remains of cobblestone walls and foundations are still there. It was abandoned due to storm floods. Local legends say there was also a lighthouse for a while. New York City purchased the island in 1888. It became a mini-colony for writers and artists in the early 20th century. It was bought by Dr. H. A. Parmentier in 1908. He subsequently leased the island to the Mount Vernon Club in 1931. It was owned by a Brooklyn lawyer until 1972 when it was sold to Edmund "Red" Brennen. He said he bought it to do salvage work and store equipment. For many years crane buckets and lattice booms and other equipment were visible. In March 2009 Brennen put Rat Island up for sale for $300,000. On September 26, 2011, The New York Times published an article about the island, stating the property would go up for auction on October 2, 2011. It was sold at that auction for $160,000 to 71-year-old retired Port Authority worker Alex Schibli, a Swiss resident of nearby City Island. Schibli said he has no immediate plans for physical changes to the island,