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[[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.588–589</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 />
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[[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]], historically served as the site of a [[penitentiary]] and a number of hospitals; today, it is dominated by residential neighborhoods consisting of large apartment buildings and parkland (much of which is dotted with the ruins of older structures).
The largest land mass in the River south of Roosevelt Island is [[U Thant Island]], an artificial islet created during the construction of the [[Steinway Tunnel]] (which currently serves the [[7 (New York City Subway service)|subway's 7 and <7> lines)]].
Proceeding north and east from Roosevelt Island, the River's principal islands include Manhattan's [[Mill Rock]], an {{convert|8.6|acre|adj=on}} island located about 1000 feet from Manhattan's East 96th Street; Manhattan's 520
[[File:Manhattan1781.jpg|thumb|left|237px|A map from 1781]]
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Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the land north of the East River was occupied by the [[Siwanoy]]s, one of many groups of [[Algonquin language|Algonquin]]-speaking [[Lenape]]s in the area. Those of the Lenapes who lived in the northern part of Manhattan Island in a campsite known as Konaande Kongh used a landing at around the current location of East 119th street to paddle into the river in [[canoe]]s fashioned from tree trunks in order to fish.<ref>Burrows and Wallace, pp.5, 6–8</ref>
Dutch settlement of what became [[New Amsterdam]] began in 1623.<ref name=history />
===Narrowing the river===
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