Triborough (Robert F. Kennedy Bridge) and Hell Gate Bridges

The Triborough Bridge under construction with the Hell Gate Bridge in the background. Aerial photo dated December 17, 1935. Source: Mitchel Field, Records of the Army Air Forces, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.

The Triborough Bridge opened on July 11, 1936, and it was renamed Robert F. Kennedy Bridge on November 19, 2008. The Hell Gate Bridge opened in 1917, linking the neighborhood of Astoria to Randall's Island and Ward's Island.
Triborough Bridge is actually three bridges, a viaduct and 14 miles of approach roads linking the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx. The Manhattan branch is the Harlem River Lift Bridge, which links the Harlem River Drive, the FDR Drive, and 125th Street, Harlem's commercial and cultural center. The Bronx Crossing leads to points north via the Bruckner and Deegan expressways and, more locally, to the neighborhoods of the South Bronx and the Port Morris Industrial Area. The longest span of the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, the East River Suspension Bridge to Queens, connects with the Grand Central Parkway and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and to Astoria.