Entrance to the 92nd Street Ferry, at the foot of Astoria Boulevard (formerly Fulton Street), March 9, 1931. Municipal ferry service operated from Astoria to 92nd Street between 1867 and the 1936 opening of the Triborough Bridge. Prior to the introduction of regular steam ferry services, various irregular — and unusual — private ferry operations carried passengers from Astoria to Manhattan. During the 1830s, these included Stephen Halsey’s “horse ferries,” boats powered by yoked teams of horses walking in circles on deck.

Who is the Bridge and Tunnel crowd? In more quotidian times, that moniker might call to mind tourists from New Jersey. Currently, the crowd in question might be New Yorkers themselves: Over the past several months, many New Yorkers have sped across these spans on their way out of the city. At the same time, subway-wary city-dwellers have also streamed across New York’s bridges, and through its tunnels, making what would ordinarily be public transit trips by foot, bike or car. Whether you’re in-town or out-of-town, this is a bridge and tunnel moment for New York City. Since the pandemic has redefined our relationship the city’s iconic modes of ingress and egress, let’s take this moment to recognize the bridges and tunnels that carry us in and out of the Upper East Side. Scroll on for a bridge and tunnel history of the neighborhood. Read this story in its original format here.