Hell Gate

 

narrow channel of the East River, SE N.Y., between Wards Island and Astoria, Queens, New York City. Named Hellegat by the Dutch navigator Adriaen Block, who passed through it into Long Island Sound in 1614, it was dangerous to ships because of its strong tidal currents and rocks. Cleared of all obstacles, it allows oceangoing vessels to sail between New York harbor and Long Island Sound. It is crossed by the Triborough highway bridge and by the Hell Gate railroad bridge.

Hell Gate is a narrow tidal strait in the East River in New York City in the United States. It separates Astoria, Queens from Randall's Island / Ward's Island (formerly two separate islands that are now joined by landfill).^[1]

It was spanned in 1917 by the New York Connecting Railroad Bridge (now called the Hell Gate Bridge), which connects the Bronx and Queens. The bridge provides a direct rail link between New England and New York City. In 1936 it was spanned by the Triborough Bridge, allowing vehicular traffic to pass between Manhattan, the Bronx, and Queens.

The name "Hell Gate" is a corruption of the Dutch phrase Hellegat, which could mean either "hell's gate" or "bright gate/passage", which was originally applied to the entirety of the East River. The strait was described in the journals of Dutch explorer Adriaen Block, who is the first European known to have navigated the strait, during his 1614 voyage aboard the Onrust. Hellegat is a fairly common toponym for waterways in the low countries, with at least 20 independent examples ^[2]. Many of these names predate Christianity in the region, before which point Hel(la) was the Goddess of the underworld. Block might have named the strait with both meanings in mind, sliding a pun into place to evade the censorship of his strict Lutheran paymasters. Because explorers found navigation hazardous in this New World place of rocks and converging tide-driven currents (from the Long Island Sound, Harlem River strait, Upper Bay of New York Harbor and lesser channels, some of which have been filled), the Anglicization stuck.

By the late 19th century, hundreds of ships had sunk in the strait. On September 24, 1876, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers used 50,000 pounds of explosives to blast the dangerous rocks, which was followed by further blasting work.^[3] One explosion in Hell Gate was the largest man-made blast in history up until the Atomic Age.

Though Hell Gate is still considered difficult to navigate due to strong tidal flows, its reputation is based on myth more than fact. At certain points in the tidal cycle, its waters briefly go slack, making it as placid as a lake. Even at peak current, competent kayakers and canoeists pass through without trouble. The greatest danger is the artificial one posed by heavy commercial vessel traffic through the tight channel.

See also

"Hell Gate: The Watery Grave" (1977), a 50-minute documentary film, narrated by Alexander Scourby, covered many aspects of the waterway's history, including the clearing of the channel, the building of Hell Gate Bridge, and the General Slocum steamship disaster.

• Little Hell Gate
• Hellgate Harmonie

References

External links

• East River NYC
• The Conquest of Hell Gate
• The LIC Community Boathouse (free canoeing and kayaking in Hallets Cove at Hell Gate)

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