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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 (
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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