We’re off to another family gathering. We leave Mattituck with the same prevailing winds behind us. And so, another unpleasant three hour run until we enter the East River. We luck out at Hell Gate and get a good push through. While the name “Hell Gate” sounds treacherous, and the narrow straight surely can be, I learn from the guide book that it actually comes from the Dutch word “hellegat,” meaning “bright straight.” Rather than continue south around the tip of Manhattan, we turn north and head up the Harlem River which is a shortcut up to the Hudson. I always enjoy this ride, although it is not very scenic. But it does take us right by Yankee Stadium and streets that I traveled by bus when I was young. We also pass the oil yard where Uncle Dave worked for years and where we “summered” as kids. In hindsight, we were the frontrunners to “fresh air kids.”
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| NY Maritime Academy (Click on any picture to enlarge) |
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| Throgs Neck Bridge |
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| Harlem River, after leaving Hell Gate |
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| The Columbia "C" |
At the top of the Harlem River is the infamous “C” painted on the high cliffs of the North Bronx overlooking the river. The graffiti looks to be 7-8 stories high and it is a wonder as to who painted it and how. It’s here where the Columbia University crew team runs its practices. I’m not sure if it still happens, but in years gone by, on occasion you’d see a group of teenage boys doing treacherous jumps and dives off the cliffs here. The more cautious or fearful simply ‘mooned’ those watching.
We must wait a short bit for the bridge handler to open the railroad swing bridge that separates us from the Hudson. Once through, we are finally on the big river and we get a good push with the tide running to the north. We can now see the Tappan Zee Bridge ahead as well as its replacement bridge which is under construction right next to it. As the longest bridge in NYS, legend has it that it was placed here so that revenues would go to the NYS Thruway Authority rather than the Port Authority of NYC. That decision resulted in a span at one of the widest parts of the Hudson, not a very economical decision. Speaking of economics, I personally feel that for all the tolls we paid while commuting across that bridge to IBM, our names should be etched on a piling.
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| New Tappan Zee Construction |
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