Little Hell Gate

Little Hell Gate was a waterway in New York City, New York, USA. It passed between Randall's Island and Ward's Island, near the confluence of the Harlem River and East River.

The east end of Little Hell Gate opened into the Hell Gate passage, of the East River, opposite Lawrence Point, Queens. The west end met the Harlem River across from East 116th Street, Manhattan.

The Triboro Bridge opened in 1936, allowing easy access to Ward's and Randall's Islands. This spurred the conversion of both islands to parkland. Soon thereafter, the city began filling in the passage between the two, to expand and connect the two parks.

Few traces of Little Hell Gate still exist. Only indentations in the shoreline of the joined island in the East River indicate the former entrances to the waterway. Today, parkland and part of the New York City Fire Department Academy occupy its former location.

The convert|1000|ft|m|sing=on long Little Hell Gate Bridge, designed by George Washington Bridge-architect Othmar Ammann, had crossed the channel and was rendered obsolete when the Little Hell Gate was filled and a service road built along the deteriorating bridge. Efforts were made in the mid-1990s to preserve the bridge in the face of plans by the New York City Department of Transportation to destroy it. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE7D8173FF935A25757C0A963958260&scp=2&sq=%22little+hell+gate%22&st=nyt "POSTINGS: Parks and Transportation Departments Debate Future of Former Link Between Randalls and Wards Islands; At City Agencies, Troubled Water Over Bridge"] , "The New York Times", April 16, 1995. Accessed March 13, 2008.]

References

External links

* [http://www.nycroads.com/crossings/hell-gate/ Hell Gate] at NYCroads.com
* [http://www.eastrivernyc.org/enatural/1885hellgt.jpgMap] from 1885 showing Little Hell Gate
* [http://www.wirednewyork.com/bridges/hell_gate_bridge/ Hell Gate Bridge] at WiredNewYork.com