in part one we walked up steinway (north) and hooked a left on ditmars (west). this thread picks up there and heads to the east river. there was a lot of varied ethnicity on steinway but this area is mostly greek. still, it's not archie bunker's queens any more.

 

another shot of the n and r "el" subway stub on 31st and ditmars blvd

 

spumoni is my weakness

 

astorian rows, btw yes astoria is named after astor, but i read he never set foot in the place

 

 

 

 

putting that little bit of concrete front yard to use

 

good 'ol p.s. whatever

 

uhn oh....

 

i think we have arrived in hell

 

 

it's the hellgate bridge (1917)

it's a train bridge, amtrak and freight only i think

http://www.astorialic.org/topics/transportation/hellgate.shtm

 

so i hope u like bridges....

 

 

 

walking around it

 

what a cool underneath view!

 

 

 

 

this one is one of the three triboro bridge spans (1936)

http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/bandt/html/triboro.htm

 

 

 

this is the site of the general slocum ferry disaster (1904),

which took the heart out of nyc's german population

it made hell's gate a real hell

over 1000 people died, more than the titanic and mostly women and children

but its not that well known, clik here for more info on it:

http://www.general-slocum.com/

 

the kids playground is named in mythic honor

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/c/charybdis.html

 

 

woody allen-esque

 

 

a look back, the hellgate bridge is a beaut

 

money

 

wow

 

looking south at some queens apts

 

 

views across the water

 

 

running with the animals

 

 

finally, a look underneath (it's loud under there)

 

heading back, some more queens housing

 

 

 

 

 

 

sez it all

 

 

 

 

 

 

aww man -- the bohemian beer garden was not open yet  :x

it's one the oldest bar/beer gardens in the city

http://www.bohemianhall.com/

 

 

time to go

 

***and that's it from a sunny spring afternoon walk around astoria, queens***

 

 

Awesome!  Love those bridge shots.

Wonderful tour! I love bridges, and those are great shots. Hell Gate is one of America's most impressive.

  I'm surprised the Port Authority didn't swoop down on you for taking pictures of the bridges!  HOMELAND SECURITY!!  Great pics!!!!!

That Hellgate bridge represents what railway bridges should be.  Not your typical CSX disgusting bridges, but rather a beautiful span over such as the Hellgate. :clap: