List of fixed crossings of the East River
| East River | |
| Tidal strait | |
 East River and the headquarters of the United Nations in Manhattan as seen from Roosevelt Island
(December 2006) |
|
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | New York |
| Municipality | New York City |
| Tributaries | |
| - left | Newtown Creek, Flushing River |
| - right | Westchester Creek, Bronx River, Bronx Kill, Harlem River |
| Source | Long Island Sound |
| - coordinates | 40°48′01″N 73°47′31″W / 40.800172°N 73.791995°W |
| Mouth | Upper New York Bay |
| - coordinates | 40°42′01″N 74°00′14″W / 40.700357°N 74.003842°WCoordinates: 40°42′01″N 74°00′14″W / 40.700357°N 74.003842°W |
| Length | 16 mi (26 km) |
 The East River is shown in red on this satellite photo of New York City
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The East River is a salt water 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 American mainland, and also divides Manhattan from Queens and Brooklyn, which is also on Long Island. Because of its connection to Long Island Sound, it was once also known as the Sound River. 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 16 miles (26 km), and was historically the center of maritime activities in the city, although that is no longer the case.
Technically a drowned valley, like the other waterways around New York City, the strait was formed approximately 11,000 years ago at the end of the Wisconsin glaciation. 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.
The section known as "Hell Gate" – from the Dutch name Hellegat or "passage to hell" given to the entire river in 1614 by explorer Adriaen Block when he passed through it in his ship Tyger – 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", "Nigger Head", "Heel Top"; "Flood"; and "Gridiron", roughly 12 islets and reefs in all, all of which led to a number of shipwrecks, including the British frigate Hussar which sank in 1780 while carrying gold and silver intended to pay British troops. The stretch has since been cleared of rocks and widened.Washington Irving wrote of Hell Gate that the current sounded "like a bull bellowing for more drink" at half tide, whilte 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." 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.
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