Area Map & Photos - East River

Choose the Cameras Along the Water Body Project Area of the East River
to VIEW PHOTOS in a seperate browser window.

East River Photos I 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I

The East River is a tidal river strait running between the Boroughs of Queens and Bronx (east/west) at its northern boundaries then between Manhattan and Brooklyn (north/south) at the southernmost limits of the study area. The East River borders Community Districts 1, 2 and 7 in Queens; Community Districts 1, 2, 9 and 10 in the Bronx; Community Districts 1, 3, 6, 8 and 11 in Manhattan; and Community Districts 1 and 2 in Brooklyn. The East River study area extends from Throgs Point in the north and ends at the Battery, the southernmost tip of Manhattan. The river links the western Long Island Sound with New York Bay. A small segment of the river from Throgs Point to the Whitestone Bridge is classified by New York State as a Class SB saline surface water with suitable uses identified as primary and secondary contact recreation and fishing and the remainder of the river from the Whitestone Bridge to the Battery is classified as a Class I for secondary contact recreation and fishing. The length of the Upper East River from the western Long Island Sound to Stony Point in the southeast Bronx and Lawrence Point in northwestern Queens is approximately six miles long while the length of the Lower East River from Stony and Lawrence Points to the southern tip of Manhattan is approximately nine miles long. The width of the river ranges from 0.5 to 3.5 miles wide with an average depth ranging from 22 to over 100 feet deep. There are numerous vehicular bridges and tunnels which span the East River including the Brooklyn Bridge, the Williamsburg Bridge, the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, the Triborough Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge, the Queensboro Bridge, the Throgs Neck Bridge and the Whitestone Bridge.

Major tributaries of the East River include the Bronx River, Westchester Creek, the Hutchinson River, Flushing Bay and Creek, Newtown Creek and Alley Creek which are being evaluated independently and are not discussed within this summary. Additional adjacent waterbodies within the East River study area include Little Neck Bay, Little Bay, Powells Cove, Bowery Bay, Pugsleys Creek, Hallets Cove, Put Cove, Wallabout Channel, Bushwick Inlet and Luyster Creek.