The Narrows

The Narrows is the tidal strait separating the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It connects the Upper New York Bay and Lower New York Bay and forms the principal channel by which the Hudson River empties into the Atlantic Ocean. It has long been considered to be the maritime "gateway" to New York City and historically has been one of the most important entrances into the harbors of the Port of New York and New Jersey.

For other uses, see The Narrows (disambiguation).
The Narrows
Brooklyn at bottom and Staten Island at upper right with the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge connecting them over the strait.
New York Harbor, as seen in a TERRA satellite image. The Narrows is shown in red, connecting Upper New York Bay to Lower New York Bay.
Location
CountryUnited States
StateNew York
MunicipalityNew York City
Physical characteristics
SourceUpper New York Bay
MouthLower New York Bay

History

Pre-history

The Narrows was most likely formed after deposition of the Harbor Hill Moraine about 18,000 years prior to the end of the last ice age. Previously, Staten Island and Brooklyn were connected and the Hudson River emptied into the ocean through the present course of the Raritan River, by taking a more westerly course through parts of present-day northern New Jersey, along the eastern side of the Watchung Mountains to Bound Brook, New Jersey, and then on into the Atlantic Ocean via Raritan Bay. A build-up of water in the Upper Bay allowed the river to break through to form the Narrows less than 12,000 to 13,000 years ago as it exists today.[1]

Post-European contact

The first recorded European entrance into the Narrows was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, who set anchor in the strait and was greeted by a group of Lenape, who paddled out to meet him in the strait.

In August 1776, the British forces under William Howe on Staten Island undertook an amphibious operation across the Narrows and landed in Brooklyn, where they routed Washington's Army at the Battle of Long Island. In 1964 the Narrows was spanned by the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time, and still the longest suspension bridge in the United States (by length of the main span).

  • View of the Narrows, 1832, by Karl Bodmer
  • The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, shown with USS Leyte Gulf passing underneath it, spans the Narrows.
  • Satellite view of the Narrows. Staten Island is on the left, and Brooklyn is on the right, connected by the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.

See also

References

Notes

  1. Charles Merguerian (2003): The Narrows, Flood – Post-Woodfordian Meltwater Breach of the Narrows Channel, NYC (pdf; 1,5 MB)

Bibliography

  • Merguerian, Charles. "The Narrows, Flood – Post-Woodfordian Meltwater Breach of the Narrows Channel, NYC" (2003)
  • Waldman, John. Heartbeats in the Muck The Lyons Press; (2000). ISBN 1-55821-720-7
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.