There used to be towers at Brenton Reef off Newport and one SW of Cuttyhunk at the entrance to Buzzards Bay. Essex YC used to run an overnight race that used Brenton Tower for a turning mark, while Watch Hill YC used to run an overnight race turning at Buzzards Tower. The Buzzards Tower had two rotating lights, one turning one way for aircraft and the second turning the other way for marine use. The marine one was very concentrated - practically blinding as you sailed E past 1BI. As you got closer it wasn't so bad as you were under the beam - but you could see it lighting up a band across your sails. At about 15 miles from the tower, the light band on the sails was about 3' wide.
I don't recall any towers in Long Island Sound. There was a huge radar dish on the S Fork of Long Island that you could see rotate from New London (on a clear day), but that too is long gone. Also gone is the Concorde SST. Our previous home had a sliding glass door facing E, and the wife hung some crystal 'sun catchers' from the glass. Every morning at about the same time the crystals would rattle slightly against the glass - we finally figured out it was the residual shock wave from the Concorde.