OCTOBER 2017 I BOROMAG.COM 17
History Hell Gate
To sailors who experienced
the body of water to the west
of Astoria Park prior to the 19th
century, the Hell Gate waters
were true to their name.
“Hell Gate was the most dangerous
part of New York’s Harbor,”
Singleton said. An average
of a thousand ships were damaged
or sunk in Hell Gate each
year during the 1850s, according
to Carter. This was due to
whirlpools in the water which
made the waters treacherous.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
blasted the underwater
rocks to alleviate the problem
in 1885.
The worst accident in Hell
Gate was General Slocum's disaster
in 1904, the deadliest
tragedy in New York City’s history
up until 9/11. A steamboat
carrying residents from Little
Germany on the Lower East Side
to a picnic in Long Island caught
fire soon after disembarking on
the East River, killing more than
1,000 people, mostly women
and children.
In the chaotic, fiery scene,
people jumped off into the
dangerous waters to try to save
themselves. The life preservers,
made with cork, had turned to
dust over time, and were ineffective
in saving lives. Passengers
burned on the moving boat and
rescue ships caught fire. Bodies
landed on the Astoria shoreline
until the boat made it to North
Brother Island, a small island
between the Bronx and Rikers
Island that housed a quarantine
hospital, where it burned.
Singleton said he spoke with
a relative of a postman who was
working that day. The postman
threw his mail bag down, running
to the Astoria Park shoreline
to save people. He said he
couldn’t walk along the beach
to the water without stepping
on a body.
Carter said the local legend
is that when the train stops at
midnight in the middle of the
Hell Gate Bridge, which was
completed in 1917, it is letting
off the ghosts of the souls who
died there.
For more about the dark history
of Hell Gate, the Greater Astoria
Historical Society is hosting
a tour along the Astoria waterfront
on Oct. 28 at noon. Singleton
said participants are encouraged
to dress in costume. Learn
more here: https://www.astorialic.
org/events.php?id=1255.
Photo via Shutterstock
Photo courtesy of Raphael Gonzalez. Instagram: @zurbaran1
Photo via Instagram/@thenightshooter
Photo via Instagram/@and_it_was_so
