Pirates, Raiders and Rumrunners

Long Island is a body of land surrounded by water.  Over time, that proximity to the ocean, the sound, the bays, and estuaries has proven to be both a blessing and a curse to the island’s inhabitants.  While these waterways have sustained Long Islanders for centuries, they were also exploited through the years by a motley crew of pirates, privateers, midnight raiders, and Prohibition-era rumrunners.  Learn about this notorious band of marauding swashbucklers as historian Noel Gish highlights some of the most colorful characters visiting Long Island’s shores.