Old train cars are now being used to create an artificial reef off the coast of Long Island.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo was on Long Island Wednesday as the 15 rail cars, a 70-foot steel tugboat named Jane and a turbine from Niagara were dumped in the water near Hempstead Reef off Point Lookout and Jones Beach.

The governor says the move will help the shoreline tourism and fishing.

Long Island charter boat Captain Anthony DiLernia says Cuomo's program creating artificial reefs will benefit charter boats significantly.

Cuomo says he was inspired to use the cars after reading about them taking up space on railroad tracks. The dumping is part of a three-year program that has created 12 other reefs surrounding Long Island.

He says the reefs will support a more diverse marine ecosystem and provide shelter for fish and other marine life off the coast.

State officials say within hours, the artificial reef began to attract fish.

Other structures have already been dropped to create the reefs. They include three barges of Tappan Zee Bridge material, material from the Staten Island Expressway, the Erie Canal and the Kew Gardens and Kosciuszko bridges.