NEWTOWN CREEK

In New York City, 'Newtown Creek', approximately 3.5 miles in length, empties into the East River. It forms part of the boundary between Brooklyn and Queens. Its waterfront, and that of its tributaries English Kills, Dutch Kills, and Maspeth Creek, are heavily industrialized. It is one of the most polluted waterways in North America, and is the site of the Greenpoint Oil Spill, the United States' largest underground oil spill.

Before the nineteenth century urbanization and industrialization of the surrounding neighborhoods, Newtown Creek was a longer, wider and shallower tidal waterway, wide enough that it contained islands. It drained a large part of Bushwick. During the second half of the nineteenth century it became a major commercial waterway, bounded along most of its length by retaining walls. The shipping channel is maintained by dredging. The Montauk Branch of the Long Island Railroad, mainly a freight line, runs along the right bank. A liquid natural gas port is under construction on the left bank, near Greenpoint Avenue.

Newtown Creek is crossed by the Pulaski Bridge, the J. J. Byrne Memorial Bridge, and the Kosciuszko Bridge. Several smaller bridges take roads over its tributaries. All except the Kosciuszko (which replaced the Penny Bridge at the foot of Meeker Avenue) are drawbridges.

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See also

External links

See also

★ Greenpoint, Brooklyn

★ Hunters Point, Queens

External links

★ PBS: P.O.V.'s Borders: The Invisible Creek

★ Forgotten New York -- A boat ride down Newtown Creek -- photos and history