East River
This entry is about the East River in New York City. For the East River in China, please see Dongjiang River; there are also two East Riverss in the U.S. state of Virginia.''
 The lower section of East River in New York City |
 The East River is shown in red on a satellite photo of New York City
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The East River is a tidal strait in New York City connecting Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island (the boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn) from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx. It was once known as Sound River.
It is spanned by eight bridges, which from north to south are:
- Throgs Neck Bridge
- Bronx-Whitestone Bridge
- Hell Gate Bridge
- Triborough Bridge
- Roosevelt Island Bridge (east channel only)
- Queensboro Bridge
- Williamsburg Bridge
- Manhattan Bridge
- Brooklyn Bridge.
The Bronx River drains into the East River in the northern section of the strait.
North of Ward's Island, it is joined by the Bronx Kill. Along the east of Ward's Island, at approximately the strait's midpoint, the it narrows into a channel called Hell Gate, which is spanned by both the Triborough Bridge and the Hell Gate Bridge. On the south side of Ward's Island, it is joined by the Harlem River.
Newton Creek on Long Island drains into the East River, forming the boundary between Queens and Brooklyn.
The East River contains a number of islands, including:
- Upper section
- Riker's Island
- North Brother Island
- South Brother Islands
- Lower Section
- Ward's Island and Randall's Island (joined by landfill)
- Roosevelt Island
- U Thant Island
External link
East River page from the Greater Astoria Historical Society