Ruffle Bar is a 143-acre (58 ha) island located in Jamaica Bay in the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, off the coast of Canarsie.

[4] During the Civil War, Ruffle Bar became a stop for ferries traveling between Canarsie and Rockaway.

[3]: 59 Ruffle Bar was so isolated that when Jamaica Bay froze during the winter, the island's few residents were cut off from the rest of civilization for three months.

[10] The association leased the city-owned portions of Ruffle Bar from the New York City Department of Docks for ten years starting in 1914.

[3]: 59 [11] Fishing activities ceased when the water was deemed by the New York City Department of Health to be too polluted for the breeding of shellfish.