New York City is home to many bridges and tunnels. Several agencies manage this network of crossings. The New York City Department of Transportation owns and operates almost 800.[1] The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, New York State Department of Transportation and Amtrak have many others.
Many of the city's major bridges and tunnels have broken or set records. Opened in 1927, the Holland Tunnel was the world's first mechanically ventilated underwater vehicular tunnel. The Brooklyn Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge, George Washington Bridge, and Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge were the world's longest suspension bridges when opened in 1883,[2] 1903,[3] 1931,[4] and 1964[5] respectively. There are 789 bridges and tunnels in New York.
New York City's crossings date back to 1693, when its first bridge, known as the King's Bridge, was constructed over Spuyten Duyvil Creek between Manhattan and the Bronx, located in the present-day Kingsbridge neighborhood. The bridge, composed of stone abutments and a timber deck, was demolished in 1917. The oldest crossing still standing is High Bridge, built 1848 to carry the Croton Aqueduct from Manhattan to the Bronx over the Harlem River.[6] This bridge was built to carry water to the city as part of the Croton Aqueduct system.
Ten bridges and one tunnel serving the city have been awarded some level of landmark status. The Holland Tunnel was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1993 in recognition of its pioneering role as the first mechanically ventilated vehicular underwater tunnel, operating since 1927. The George Washington, High, Hell Gate, Queensboro, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Macombs Dam, Carroll Street, University Heights, and Washington Bridges have all received landmark status, as well.
New York features bridges of many lengths and types, carrying vehicular, bicycle, pedestrian, and subway traffic. The George Washington Bridge, spanning the Hudson River between New York City and Fort Lee, New Jersey, is the world's busiest bridge in terms of vehicular traffic.[7] [8] The George Washington, Verrazzano-Narrows, and Brooklyn Bridges are noted for their architecture, while others are more well known for their functional importance, such as the Williamsburg Bridge with 8 vehicular lanes, 2 subway tracks, a bike lane, and pedestrian walkways.
From south to north:
| Name | Opening year | Length | Carries | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| feet | meters | ||||
| 1883 | 1825order=flipNaNorder=flip | 5 lanes of roadway (2 Manhattan-bound, 3 Brooklyn-bound) | Oldest suspension bridge in NYC. Also oldest suspension/cable-stayed hybrid bridge. | ||
| 1909 | 2089order=flipNaNorder=flip | 7 lanes of roadway and | Double-decker bridge with 5 westbound lanes and 2 eastbound lanes. 3 of the westbound lanes and the subway are below the other 4 lanes. | ||
| 1903 | 2227.48order=flipNaNorder=flip | 8 lanes of roadway (4 in each direction) and | |||
| 1909 | 1135order=flipNaNorder=flip | 9 lanes of | Officially known as the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge. Also known as 59th Street Bridge. Reversible 4 lanes on the upper deck, and 2 westbound/3 eastbound lanes on the lower deck. | ||
| 1955 | 876.91order=flipNaNorder=flip | 2 lanes of roadway (1 in each direction) | East channel only | ||
| Triborough Bridge (Suspension Bridge) | 1936 | 850order=flipNaNorder=flip | 8 lanes of (4 in each direction) | Officially known as the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge | |
| 1916 | 310order=flipNaNorder=flip | 3 rail tracks (2 of Northeast Corridor, 1 of New York Connecting Railroad) | |||
| 1966 | 1280.16order=flipNaNorder=flip | 2 lanes of roadway | Only connects Rikers Island to Queens | ||
| 1939 | 1149.1order=flipNaNorder=flip | 6 lanes of | |||
| 1961 | 886.97order=flipNaNorder=flip | 6 lanes of |
From south to north, east to west:
| Name | Opening year | Length | Carries | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| feet | meters | ||||
| 1951 | 285.6order=flipNaNorder=flip | Pedestrians and bicycles only | |||
| Triborough Bridge (Vertical-Lift Bridge) | 1936 | 230order=flipNaNorder=flip | Officially known as the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge | ||
| 1901 | 979order=flipNaNorder=flip | 4 lanes of roadway | Northbound traffic only | ||
| 1898 | 853.44order=flipNaNorder=flip | 5 lanes of roadway | Southbound traffic only | ||
| 1956 | 100order=flipNaNorder=flip | ||||
| 1910 | 577order=flipNaNorder=flip | 4 lanes of roadway | |||
| 1905 | 489order=flipNaNorder=flip | 4 lanes of roadway | |||
| 1895 | 774order=flipNaNorder=flip | 4 lanes of roadway | |||
| 1848 | 600order=flipNaNorder=flip | Pedestrian walkway and bicycle lanes | Oldest surviving bridge in New York City | ||
| 1963 | 724order=flipNaNorder=flip | 8 lanes of and | |||
| 1888 | 723.9order=flipNaNorder=flip | 6 lanes of roadway | |||
| 1908 | 82order=flipNaNorder=flip | 2 lanes of roadway | |||
| 1962 | 170.08order=flipNaNorder=flip | 4 lanes of Broadway/ and the | Also known as Harlem Ship Canal Bridge | ||
| 1936 | 673order=flipNaNorder=flip | 6 lanes of | Double-decked bridge | ||
| 1899 | 186order=flipNaNorder=flip | 1 track of Empire Corridor | Swing bridge |
| Name | Opening year | Length | Carries | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| feet | meters | ||||
| 2017, 2019 | 1835order=flipNaNorder=flip | 6 lanes of | Eastbound span opened in April 2017, and westbound span opened in August 2019. It replaces the original bridge | ||
| 1954 | 860order=flipNaNorder=flip | Drawbridge | |||
| 1987[9] | 55order=flipNaNorder=flip | 4 lanes of Greenpoint Avenue | a.k.a. J. J. Byrne Memorial Bridge Drawbridge | ||
| 1903 | 69.2order=flipNaNorder=flip | Swing bridge; one-lane bridge | |||
| Metropolitan Avenue Bridge | 1933 | 33.8order=flipNaNorder=flip | Drawbridge; Crosses English Kills, a tributary of Newtown Creek |
| Name | Opening year | Length | Carries | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bronx Kill | |||||
| Robert F. Kennedy Bridge | 1936 | 490order=flipNaNorder=flip | 8 lanes of | Formerly known as the Triborough Bridge | |
| Hutchinson River (heading downriver) | |||||
| Eastchester Bridge | 1926 | 0.4 miles | 4 lanes of Boston Road | ||
| I-95 bridge | 1961 | 5,280 feet | 6 lanes of | ||
| Hutchinson River Parkway Bridge | 1941 | 205order=flipNaNorder=flip | 6 lanes of | Drawbridge | |
| 1908 | 81feet | Northeast Corridor (Amtrak) | Also called Amtrak Pelham Bay Bridge | ||
| 1908 | 272order=flipNaNorder=flip | 4 lanes of Shore Road | Drawbridge | ||
| Westchester Creek | |||||
| Unionport Bridge | 1953 | 160.3order=flipNaNorder=flip | 7 lanes of | ||
| Bronx River | |||||
| Eastern Boulevard Bridge | 1953 | 193.2order=flipNaNorder=flip | Drawbridge | ||
| Eastchester Bay | |||||
| 1901 | 290order=flipNaNorder=flip | 3 lanes of City Island Avenue | |||
| Name | Opening year | Length | Carries | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gowanus Canal | |||||
| Union Street Bridge | 1905[10] | 600 feet | 2 lanes of Union Street | Drawbridge | |
| 1889 | 300 feet | 2 lanes of Carroll Street | New York City Designated Landmark and one of four retractable bridges in the country[11] | ||
| Third Street Bridge | 1905 | 350 feet | Third Street | ||
| Ninth Street Bridge | 1999 | 700 feet | Ninth Street | Vertical Lift Bridge | |
| 1933[12] | 0.6 miles | passes over the Ninth Street Bridge, carrying 4 tracks, 2 express and 2 local | |||
| Hamilton Avenue Bridge | 1942 | 0.7 miles | Hamilton Avenue | passes under the Gowanus Expressway and carries four lanes of traffic in each direction | |
| 1941[13] | 9 lanes of | ||||
| Mill Basin | |||||
| Mill Basin Bridge | 2017 | 6 lanes of | The bridge has a combined bicycle and pedestrian pathway on the eastbound side of the bridge which carries the Jamaica Bay Greenway | ||
| Mill Basin Drawbridge(demolished) | 1940 | 825 ft | 6 lanes of | Twin-leaf bascule bridge; demolished in 2018 and replaced by Mill Basin Bridge | |
| Rockaway Inlet (Brooklyn and Queens) | |||||
| 1937 | 1226 m | also has a narrow combined bicycle and pedestrian path on the southbound side of the bridge | |||
| Name | Opening year | Length | Carries | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dutch Kills | |||||
| 1908 | 100 feet | 2 lanes of Borden Avenue | One of four retractable bridges in the country | ||
| Hunters Point Avenue Bridge | 1910 | 500 feet | Hunters Point Avenue | ||
| Cabin M Bridge | 1 track of the Montauk Cutoff | There is another abandoned track on the bridge | |||
| DB Cabin Bridge | 1 track of the Montauk Branch | The bridge was originally built to carry three tracks | |||
| Jamaica Bay | |||||
| 1970 | 0.7 miles | ||||
| 1971 | 0.7 miles | 6 lanes of Cross Bay Boulevard | |||
| Not actually a movable bridge. Howard Beach to Broad Channel. | |||||
| Broad Channel to The Rockaways | |||||
| Connecting Hamilton Beach at Russell Street with Howard Beach, also known as "Lenihan's Bridge". | |||||
| 163rd Avenue and 99th Street in Howard Beach across to Hamilton Beach at Rau Court and Davenport Court | Also known as "Joel Miele Sr. Bridge". | ||||
| Rockaway Inlet (Brooklyn and Queens) | |||||
| 1937 | 1226 m | ||||
| Name | Opening year | Length | Carries | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arthur Kill | |||||
| 2018[14] [15] | 2225.04 m | 6 lanes of | Replaced the old Goethals Bridge (completed 1928); the two new spans are a cable-stayed design | ||
| 1959 | 170.08 m | CSX and M&E rail lines | |||
| 1928 | 3093 m | 4 lanes of ; | |||
| Kill Van Kull | |||||
| 1931 | 1761.74 m | 4 lanes of ; | raised and rebuilt in 2019 | ||
Each of the tunnels that run underneath the East and Hudson Rivers were marvels of engineering when first constructed. The Holland Tunnel is the oldest of the vehicular tunnels, opening to great fanfare in 1927 as the first mechanically ventilated underwater tunnel. The Queens Midtown Tunnel was opened in 1940 to relieve the congestion on the city's bridges. Each of its tubes were designed 1.5feet wider than the Holland Tunnel in order to accommodate the wider cars of the period. When the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel opened in 1950, it was the longest continuous underwater vehicular tunnel in North America, a title it still holds.[16] The Lincoln Tunnel has three tubes linking midtown Manhattan to New Jersey, a configuration that provides the flexibility to provide four lanes in one direction during rush hours, or three lanes in both direction.
All four underwater road tunnels were built by Ole Singstad: the Holland Tunnel's original chief engineer Clifford Milburn Holland died, as did his successor, Milton H. Freeman, after which Singstad became chief engineer, finishing the Holland Tunnel and then building the remaining tunnels.
From south to north:
| Name | Opening year | Length | Carries | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 9117abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 4 lanes of | Officially known as the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel | ||
| 1908 | 8888abbr=onNaNabbr=on | ||||
| 1920 | 7009abbr=onNaNabbr=on | ||||
| 1919 | 5900abbr=onNaNabbr=on | ||||
| 1933 | |||||
| 1936 | |||||
| 1924 | |||||
| 1910 | 3949abbr=onNaNabbr=on | part of the New York Tunnel Extension Amtrak and Long Island Rail Road (Northeast Corridor) | |||
| 1940 | 6414abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 4 lanes of | |||
| 1915 | |||||
| 1933 | |||||
| 1920 | |||||
| 1989 | 3140abbr=onNaNabbr=on | ||||
| 1892 | Electricity, natural gas, steam, and number 6 fuel oil | First tunnel under the East River and Roosevelt Island, between Big Allis power plant in Astoria and Upper East Side[17] [18] |
From south to north:
| Name | Opening year | Length | Carries | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1918 | 1283abbr=onNaNabbr=on | ||||
| 1905 | 641abbr=onNaNabbr=on | ||||
| 1933 |
From south to north:
| Name | Opening year | Length | Carries | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1909 | 5650abbr=onNaNabbr=on | ||||
| 1927 | south tube: 8371abbr=onNaNabbr=on north tube: 8558abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 4 lanes of ; | |||
| 1908 | 5500abbr=onNaNabbr=on | ||||
| 1910 | 6100abbr=onNaNabbr=on | part of New York Tunnel Extension Amtrak and New Jersey Transit (Northeast Corridor) | |||
| north tube: 1945 center tube: 1937 south tube: 1957 | south tube: 8006abbr=onNaNabbr=on center tube: 8216abbr=onNaNabbr=on north tube: 7482abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 6 lanes of ; |