East River: Difference between revisions

| name = East River

| native_name =

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| image = East River and UN.jpg

| image_size = 325px

| image_caption = The East River and the [[headquarters of the United Nations]] in [[Manhattan]], as seen from [[Roosevelt Island]]<br>(December 2006)

| map = Wpdms terra east river.jpg

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| map_caption = The East River is shown in red

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| subdivision_type1 = Country

| subdivision_name1 = [[United States]]

| subdivision_type2 = State

| subdivision_name2 = [[New York (state)|New York]]

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| subdivision_type4 =

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| subdivision_type5 = Municipality

| subdivision_name5 = [[New York City]]

| length = {{convert|16|mi|km|abbr=on}}

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| source1 = [[Long Island Sound]]

| source1_location =

| source1_coordinates = {{coord|40.800172|-73.791995|display=inline}}

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| mouth = [[Upper New York Bay]]

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| mouth_coordinates = {{coord|40.700357|-74.003842|display=inline,title}}

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| tributaries_left = [[Newtown Creek]], [[Flushing River]]

| tributaries_right = [[Westchester Creek]], [[Bronx River]],<br />[[Bronx Kill]], [[Harlem River]]

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The '''East River''' is a salt watersaltwater [[Estuary|tidal estuary]] in [[New York City]]. The waterway, which is actually not a [[river]] despite its name, connects [[Upper New York Bay]] on its south end to [[Long Island Sound]] on its north end. It separates the borough of [[Queens]] on [[Long Island]] from [[the Bronx]] on the [[North America]]n mainland, and also divides [[Manhattan]] from Queens and [[Brooklyn]], also on Long Island.<ref name=encnyc>Hodges, Godfrey. "East RIver" in Jackson, pp.393–93</ref> Because of its connection to [[Long Island Sound]], it was once also known as the ''Sound River''.<ref>[[John Montresor|Montrésor, John]] (1766). ''[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/gmd:@field(NUMBER+@band(g3804n+ar110401)) A plan of the city of New-York & its environs]''. London.</ref> The [[tidal strait]] changes its direction of flow frequently, and is subject to strong fluctuations in its current, which are accentuated by its narrowness and variety of depths. The waterway is navigable for its entire length of {{convert|16|mi}}, and was historically the center of maritime activities in the city.<ref name=encnyc /><ref name=fed420 />

Technically a [[riaRia|drowned valley]], like the other waterways around New York City,<ref>Burrows and Wallace, p.5</ref> the strait was formed approximately 11,000 years ago at the end of the [[Wisconsin glaciation]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Staff |title=The East River Flows From Prehistoric Times To Today |url=http://www.qgazette.com/news/2005-07-20/features/049.html |newspaper=The Queens Gazette |date=July 20, 2005 |access-date=July 31, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110216082526/http://www.qgazette.com/news/2005-07-20/features/049.html |archive-date=February 16, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The distinct change in the shape of the strait between the lower and upper portions is evidence of this glacial activity. The upper portion (from [[Long Island Sound]] to [[Hell Gate]]), running largely perpendicular to the glacial motion, is wide, meandering, and has deep narrow bays on both banks, scoured out by the glacier's movement. The lower portion (from Hell Gate to [[New York Bay]]) runs north–south, parallel to the glacial motion. It is much narrower, with straight banks. The bays that exist, as well as those that used to exist before being filled in by human activity, are largely wide and shallow.

[[File:PSM V28 D451 Hell gate new york.jpg|thumb|325px|left|A navigation map for [[Hell Gate]] from {{circa|1885}}, after many of the obstructions had been removed.]]

The section known as "Hell Gate" – from the [[Dutch language|Dutch]] name {{lang|nl|Hellegat}} meaning either "bright strait" or "clear opening", given to the entire river in 1614 by explorer [[Adriaen Block]] when he passed through it in his ship ''Tyger''<ref name="fed420">{{cite fednyc}} pp.419–20</ref><ref name=wolfe /> – is a narrow, turbulent, and particularly treacherous stretch of the river. Tides from the Long Island Sound, New York Harbor and the [[Harlem River]] meet there, making it difficult to navigate, especially because of the number of rocky islets which once dotted it, with names such as "Frying Pan", "Pot, Bread and Cheese", "Hen and Chicken", "Heel Top"; "Flood"; and "Gridiron", roughly 12 islets and reefs in all,<ref>Eldredge & Horenstein (2104), p.91</ref> all of which led to a number of shipwrecks, including [[HMS Hussar (1763)|HMS ''Hussar'']], a British [[frigate]] that sank in 1780 while supposedly carrying gold and silver intended to pay British troops. The stretch has since been cleared of rocks and widened.<ref name=wolfe>Wolfe, Gerard R. "Hell Gate and Hell Gate Bridge" in Jackson, pp.588–89588–589</ref> [[Washington Irving]] wrote of Hell Gate that the current sounded "like a bull bellowing for more drink" at half tide, while at full tide it slept "as soundly as an alderman after dinner.". He said it was like "a peaceable fellow enough when he has no liquor at all, or when he has a skinful, but who, when half-seas over, plays the very devil."<ref name=fed420 /> The tidal regime is complex, with the two major tides – from the Long Island Sound and from the Atlantic Ocean – separated by about two hours; and this is without consideration of the tidal influence of the Harlem River, all of which creates a "dangerous cataract", as one ship's captain put it.<ref>Eldredge & Horenstein (2014), pp.92–93</ref>

The river is navigable for its entire length of {{convert|16|mi}}. In 1939 it was reported that the stretch from [[The Battery (Manhattan)|The Battery]] to the former [[Brooklyn Navy Yard]] near [[Wallabout Bay]], a run of about {{convert|1000|yd}}, was {{convert|40|ft}} deep, the long section from there, running to the west of Roosevelt Island, through Hell Gate and to [[Throggs Neck|Throg's Neck]] was at least {{convert|35|ft}} deep, and then eastward from there the river was, at mean low tide, {{convert|168|ft}} deep.<ref name=fed420 />

The broadness of the river's channel south of Roosevelt Island is caused by the dipping of the hardy [[Fordham gneiss]] underlying the island under the less strong [[Tuckahoe marble|Inwood marble]] which lies under the river bed.<ref name=concrete90 /> Why the river turns to the east as it approaches the three lower [[Manhattan bridges]] is geologically unknown.<ref>Eldredge & Horenstein (2014), pp.90–91</ref>

[[Roosevelt Island]], a long ({{convert|2|mi|km|adj=on}}) and narrow ({{convert|800|ft}}) landmass, lies in the stretch of the river between Manhattan Island and the borough of [[Queens]] roughly paralleling Manhattan's East 46th–86th Streets. The abrupt termination of the island on its north end is due to an extension of the [[125th Street Fault]].<ref name="concrete90" /> Politically, the island's {{convert|147|acre|km2}} constitute part of the borough of Manhattan. It is connected to Queens by the [[Roosevelt Island Bridge]], to Manhattan by the [[Roosevelt Island Tramway]], and to both boroughs by a [[Roosevelt Island station|subway station]] served by the [[F (New York City Subway service)|F train]]. The [[Queensboro Bridge]] also runs across Roosevelt Island, and an elevator allowing both pedestrian and vehicular access to the island was added to the bridge in 1930, but elevator service was discontinued in 1955 following the opening of the Roosevelt Island Bridge, and the elevator was demolished in 1970. The island, which was formerly known as Blackwell's Island and Welfare Island before being renamed in honor of US President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|Franklin Delano Roosevelt]], historically served as the site of a [[prison|penitentiary]] and a number of hospitals; today, it is dominated by residential neighborhoods consisting of large apartment buildings and park landparkland (much of which is dotted with the ruins of older structures).