List of bridges and tunnels in New York City

The Manhattan Bridge and Brooklyn Bridge on the East River in 1981

New York City is home to over 2,000 bridges and tunnels. Several agencies manage this network of crossings, including the New York City Department of Transportation, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, New York State Department of Transportation and Amtrak.

Many of the city's major bridges and tunnels have broken or set records. The Holland Tunnel was the world's first vehicular tunnel when it opened in 1927. The Brooklyn Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge, George Washington Bridge, and Verrazano–Narrows Bridge were the world's longest suspension bridges when opened in 1883,^[1] 1903,^[2] 1931,^[3] and 1964^[4] respectively.

Bridges

New York'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.^[5] 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 Bridge, Hell Gate, Queensboro, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Macombs Dam, Carroll Street, University Heights ,and Washington bridges have all received landmark status as well.^[5]

New York features bridges of all 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.^[6]^[7] The George Washington, Verrazano–Narrows, and Brooklyn 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.

Bridges by water body

East River

South Street Seaport, with the Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, and Williamsburg Bridge visible in the background

J train on the Williamsburg Bridge

From south to north:

Name	Opening year	Length	Comments
Brooklyn Bridge	1883	1,825 metres (5,988 ft)	Oldest suspension bridge. Also oldest suspension/cable-stayed hybrid bridge.
Manhattan Bridge	1909	2,089 metres (6,854 ft)	(B D N Q trains)
Williamsburg Bridge	1903	2,227.48 metres (7,308.0 ft)	(J M Z trains)
Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge	1909	1,135 metres (3,724 ft)	NY-25 Also known as 59th Street Bridge (7 <7> N Q trains) on Queens end
Roosevelt Island Bridge	1955	876.91 metres (2,877.0 ft)	East channel only
Robert F. Kennedy Bridge (Suspension Bridge)	1936	850 metres (2,790 ft)	I-278 Formerly known as the Triborough Bridge
Hell Gate Bridge	1916	5,181.6 metres (17,000 ft)	Rail only (Northeast Corridor/New York Connecting Railroad)
Rikers Island Bridge	1966	1,280.16 metres (4,200.0 ft)	Only connects Rikers Island to Queens
Bronx–Whitestone Bridge	1939	1,149.10 metres (3,770.0 ft)	I-678
Throgs Neck Bridge	1961	886.97 metres (2,910.0 ft)	I-295

Harlem River

Wards Island Bridge in "open" position

From south to north, east to west:

Name	Opening year	Length	Comments
Wards Island Bridge	1951	285.6 metres (937 ft)	Pedestrians and bicycles only
Robert F. Kennedy Bridge (Vertical-Lift Bridge)	1936	230 metres (750 ft)	Formerly known as the Triborough Bridge
Willis Avenue Bridge	1901	979 metres (3,212 ft)	Northbound traffic only
Third Avenue Bridge	1898	853.44 metres (2,800.0 ft)	Southbound traffic only
Park Avenue Bridge	1954	100 metres (330 ft)	Metro-North only
Madison Avenue Bridge	1910	577 metres (1,893 ft)
145th Street Bridge	1905	489 metres (1,604 ft)
Macombs Dam Bridge	1895	774 metres (2,539 ft)
High Bridge	1848	600 metres (2,000 ft)	Oldest surviving bridge in New York City;
Alexander Hamilton Bridge	1963	724 metres (2,375 ft)	I-95 US-1
Washington Bridge	1888	723.9 metres (2,375 ft)
University Heights Bridge	1908	82 metres (269 ft)
Broadway Bridge	1962	170.08 metres (558.0 ft)	Also known as Harlem Ship Canal Bridge (1 trains)
Henry Hudson Bridge	1936	673 metres (2,208 ft)	Henry Hudson Parkway
Spuyten Duyvil Bridge	1899	186 metres (610 ft)	Rail only

Hudson River

George Washington Bridge, spanning the Hudson River between New York City and New Jersey. Historic American Engineering Record photo

Verrazano-Narrows Bridge

Name	Opening year	Length	Comments
George Washington Bridge	1931	1,450.85 metres (4,760.0 ft)	I-95, US-1, US-9 US-46 Handles 280,718 vehicles per day (2010)^[8]

New York Bay

Name	Opening year	Length	Comments
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge	1964	2,039.1 metres (6,690 ft)	I-278

Newtown Creek

Borden Avenue, Long Island City

Name	Opening year	Length	Comments
Kosciuszko Bridge	1939	1,835 metres (6,020 ft)	I-278
Pulaski Bridge	1954	860 metres (2,820 ft)	McGuinness Boulevard
J. J. Byrne Memorial Bridge	1987^[9]	55 metres (180 ft)	a.k.a. Greenpoint Avenue Bridge; Greenpoint Avenue
Grand Street Bridge	1903^[9]	69.2 metres (227 ft)	Grand Avenue
Metropolitan Avenue Bridge	1933^[9]	33.8 metres (111 ft)	Grand Street and Metropolitan Avenue; crosses English Kills, a tributary of Newtown Creek^[9]

Other

The Bronx

Name	Opening year	Length	Comments
Bronx Kill
Robert F. Kennedy Bridge (Truss bridge)	1936	490 metres (1,610 ft)	I-278 Formerly known as the Triborough Bridge
Hutchinson River (heading downriver)
Eastchester Bridge			US-1
I-95 bridge			I-95
Hutchinson River Parkway Bridge	1941	205 metres (673 ft)	Hutchinson River Parkway
Hutchinson River Bridge	1908	81 feet (25 m)	Northeast Corridor (Amtrak) Also called Amtrak Pelham Bay Bridge
Pelham Bridge	1908	272 metres (892 ft)	Shore Road
Westchester Creek
Unionport Bridge	1953	160.3 metres (526 ft)	Bruckner Boulevard
Bronx River
Eastern Boulevard Bridge	1953	193.2 metres (634 ft)	I-278
Eastchester Bay
City Island Bridge	1901	290 metres (950 ft)	City Island Avenue

Brooklyn

Ninth Street Bridge, spanning Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn.

Name	Opening year	Length	Comments
Gowanus Canal
Union Street Bridge	1905^[10]		Union Street
Carroll Street Bridge	1889^[10]		Carroll Street; New York City Designated Landmark and one of four retractable bridges in the country^[11]
Third Street Bridge	1905^[10]		Third Street
Ninth Street Bridge	1999^[10]		Ninth Street
Culver Viaduct	1938^[12]		IND Culver Line (F G trains)
Hamilton Avenue Bridge	1942^[10]		I-278 service road
Gowanus Expressway	1941^[13]		I-278
Mill Basin
Mill Basin Bridge			Belt Parkway
Rockaway Inlet (Brooklyn and Queens)
Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge	1937	1226 m	Flatbush Avenue

Queens

Name	Opening year	Length	Comments
Dutch Kills
Borden Avenue Bridge	1908^[9]		Borden Avenue; one of four retractable bridges in the country^[11]
Hunters Point Avenue Bridge	1910^[9]		Hunters Point Avenue
Jamaica Bay
Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge	1970		Cross Bay Boulevard
The Joseph P. Addabbo Memorial Bridge			Cross Bay Boulevard
North Channel Swing Bridge			(A trains) Not actually a movable bridge. Howard Beach to Broad Channel.
Beach Channel Drawbridge			(A S trains) Broad Channel to The Rockaways
102nd Street Bridge			Connecting Hamilton Beach at Russell Street with Howard Beach, also known as "Lenihan's Bridge".
Hawtree Creek Bridge			163rd Avenue and 99th Street in Howard Beach across to Hamilton Beach at Rau Court and Davenport Court
Rockaway Inlet (Brooklyn and Queens)
Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge	1937	1226 m

Staten Island

Name	Opening year	Length	Comments
Arthur Kill
Goethals Bridge	1928	2164.08 m	I-278
Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge	1959	170.08 m	CSX and M&E rail lines
Outerbridge Crossing	1928	3093 m	NJ 440/NY 440
Kill Van Kull
Bayonne Bridge	1931	1761.74 m	NY 440/NJ 440

Tunnels

The Queens–Midtown Tunnel

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 1.5 feet (0.46 m) 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.^[14] 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.