Hell Gate Bridge, a railroad bridge, is simply gorgeous when the light hits it right. The arch bridge connects Astoria and Queens to Ward's Island and then to the South Bronx and carries freight and Amtrak passenger trains on their way from the mainland to Manhattan (via the Sunnyside Railyards) or out to Long Island.
Completed in 1916, at the time the Hell Gate Bridge was the largest steel-arch bridge in the world. Though the bridge is a total of 3.2 miles long, the high steel arch over the East River -- its most visually exciting part -- is 1,017 feet in length.
The bridge is named for the Hell Gate portion of the East River, a spot of treacherous currents, named by the colonial Dutch.