Gilgo, NY Coastal Erosion Rate
Is the coast eroding 3.8 miles southwest of Gilgo, NY?
Good news, and an honest one: USGS's data can't distinguish this stretch, 3.8 miles southwest of Gilgo, NY, from a flat trend. Whatever small movement it measured here is statistical noise, not a reliable direction, so none is claimed.
What this reading actually covers
USGS surveys the coast in transects spaced a few hundred feet apart; this page groups the nearest ones into a single ~3.5-mile reading for the stretch closest to Gilgo, NY, rather than showing one arbitrary line. Segment center: 40.61, -73.45. Survey years: 2007-2009, method LRR, from USGS's New England / Mid-Atlantic shoreline-change assessment. That's how current the data is here, real, but not a live feed, since a shoreline survey is a major undertaking, not an annual check-in.
How solid is this number
This reading comes from 88 individual transects averaged together, 0% of which measured erosion rather than growth. Uncertainty on this specific number: 1.56 ft/yr either side. The unadjusted figure here, 1.06 ft/yr, would place it 1116 of 1211 if ranked directly - but an unreliable rank isn't a useful one, which is exactly why "no significant trend" is the headline instead. Source: USGS Open-File Report 2010-1119. Rank 1128 nationally for growth belongs to Westport, WA, 2521 miles from this stretch, measured at 1.25 ft/yr. Gilgo, NY, 2.6 miles off, is the adjacent measured stretch, reading severe erosion at 3.5 ft/yr.
Gilgo, NY on the source map: try the Coastal Change Hazards Portal, zoomable well past this page's ~3.5-mile grain.