Greater Astoria Historial Society 35-20 Broadway, 4th Floor | L.I.C., NY 11106 718.278.0700 | www.astorialic.org Gallery Hours: Mondays & Wednesdays 2-5 PM Saturdays 12-5 PM Exhibits ~ Lectures ~ Documentaries ~ Books Walking Tours ~ Historical Research Unique & Creative Content For more information visit us on the web at www.astorialic.org This image adapted from an invitation to the Long Island City Athletics 33rd Annual Masque Ball, 1909. 36 OCTOBER 2016 i LIC COURIER i www.qns.com Legends The Hell Gate Bridge Turns 100! New York City is an archipelago of rocky islands – which is both a benefit and a bane to our city. The traffic of ocean, river and sound make it one of the world’s great ports. The trouble has always been getting the freight – be it merchandise or people, from dockside to destination. The solution has been a series of bridges and tunnels that are regarded, even after a century, as outstanding examples of engineering art. The giant among these giants is undoubtedly the Pennsylvania Railroad. For us to place their accomplishments in modern context, we would have to put Apple, Microsoft, NASA, and the Interstate Highway Network under one team. Technology, travel, communication and engineering jumped a quantum leap by its management and team brought in to accomplish their goals. Their mark on our community, Sunnyside Yards and New York Connecting Railroad, touches nearly upon every neighborhood in old Long Island City. The rail line emerges from under the East River in Hunters Point, then goes past Dutch Kills and Sunnyside (with a branch along Newtown Creek through Blissville), rises gently through Astoria and Steinway, and finally crosses over the Hell Gate at the majestic Hell Gate Bridge. The border of Long Island City is defined by a ribbon of rail. This was a spectacular triumph of civil engineering connecting New York to New England by rail, and via tunnel to Penn Station in Manhattan and the rest of the country. Funded by private capital, the project was a great dream by great leaders who assembled great resources to make it happen. It was never tried before, nor has anything like this been attempted since. This year will be the Centennial of the Hell Gate Bridge. Over the coming months this column will discuss a dream, and the actions that made it possible, and the people who were behind it. Note: See the exhibit “Hell Gate @100” at the Greater Astoria Historical Society through Spring 2017)
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