新規更新March 11, 2020 at 10:00AM
【外部リンク】
Sunswick Creek
Epicgenius: added Category:Astoria, Queens using HotCat
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[[File:1873_Beers_Map_of_Astoria_and_Long_Island_City,_Queens,_New_York_-_Geographicus_-_LongIslandCity-beers-1873.jpg|thumb|1873 map of Long Island City. Sunswick Creek starts at the center of the image and drains into the East River, at left<!-- need to add highlighting to this image -->]]
'''Sunswick Creek''' is a buried stream located in the neighborhood of [[Long Island City]] in the northwestern portion of [[Queens]], [[New York City]]. It ran north from the [[Queensboro Bridge]] and [[Queens Plaza (Queens)|Queens Plaza]] to the present-day site of the [[Socrates Sculpture Park]] in [[Astoria, Queens|Astoria]], emptying into the [[East River]]. The creek was named for a term in Native American language that likely means "Woman Chief" or "Sachem's Wife". The mouth of the creek was settled in the late 17th century by William Hallet, who built a [[milldam]] at the creek's mouth to create a mill pond. Due to industrialization in Long Island City, the creek became heavily polluted and was covered-over starting in the late 19th century.
== Course ==
Prior to its burial, Sunswick Creek's source was located close to 21st Street north of what is now the [[Queensboro Bridge]] and [[Queens Plaza (Queens)|Queens Plaza]], within the Long Island City subsection of Ravenswood. The creek passed north through the current site of the [[Queensbridge Houses]] and the [[Ravenswood Generating Station]], roughly following the present path of 21st Street.<ref name="Kadinsky2016"></ref> A large city block, now the site of the [[Long Island City High School]], marks the former above-ground course of the creek. Sunswick Creek drained into the [[East River]] near the present [[Socrates Sculpture Park]] in [[Astoria, Queens|Astoria]].<ref name="Kadinsky2016" />
== Etymology ==
According to the [[Greater Astoria Historical Society]], the term "Sunswick" is believed to have possibly originated from a Native American language, namely the word "Sunkisq", which the society defines as "meaning perhaps 'Woman Chief' or 'Sachem's Wife'".<ref></ref> This name is shared by Sunswick 3535, a bar at the intersection of 35th Street and 35th Avenue.<ref name="Kadinsky2016" /> Additionally, the present-day 22nd Street was formerly named Sunswick Street.<ref></ref>
== History ==
=== 17th through 19th centuries ===
In 1664, the land on the northern shore of the creek's mouth was purchased by British settler William Hallet (or Hallett), who obtained the plot from two native chiefs named Shawestcont and Erramorhar.<ref name=":0"></ref> This peninsula, which jutted out onto [[Hell Gate]] to the northwest, was acquired in portions and was later renamed [[Hallet's Cove]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Ross Pelletreau 1905 p."></ref> Hallet subsequently built a lime [[kiln]] on the creek. Sunswick Creek formed a navigable waterway with [[Dutch Kills]], another stream to the south, making it easy for merchants to transport produce and goods along the creek.<ref name=":0" /> A [[milldam]] was built at the mouth of the creek in 1679, creating a small mill pond.<ref name="feis7">Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 2, expected 1)</ref> Joseph Hallett and Jacob Blackwell built a mill on the creek's right bank, near its mouth, in 1753.<ref name="Ross Pelletreau 1905 p." />
By the 1860s and 1870s, Sunswick Creek was heavily polluted due to increasing industrialization, a lack of proper sewage, and the high population density of Long Island City and Astoria.<ref name="feis7" /> The historian [[Vincent F. Seyfried]] wrote that disease around Sunswick Creek and Dutch Kills had become common by 1866, and that "The damming of the Sunswick Creek cut off the flushing-out of the meadow lands and the salt water that used to ebb and flow became stagnant and slimy and filled with mosquitoes."<ref name="feis7" /><ref name="Seyfried 1984 p."></ref> After outbreaks of disease in 1871 and 1875, the marshes surrounding the creek were drained in 1879.<ref name="feis7" /> In addition, Long Island City had started building a proper sewage system in the 1870s, which was still not complete by the time Long Island City became part of the [[City of Greater New York]] in 1898.<ref name="feis7" /> The creek was partially diverted into one of the sewage system's brick tunnels at Broadway, which was completed around 1893.<ref name="Kadinsky2016" />
=== 20th century ===
Sunswick Meadows, a lowland north of the present Queensboro Bridge, was infilled with the construction of the bridge in the 1900s and 1910s.<ref name="feis7" /> This was accomplished partly by dumping dirt from the excavation of [[New York City Subway]] tunnels in [[Manhattan]].<ref>}}</ref><ref>}}</ref> In addition, street cleaners tossed dry rubbish into the lowland to raise the grade of nearby streets.<ref>}}</ref>
In 1915, residents of Ravenswood sent a letter to the [[New York City Board of Health]] to complain about the [[Tide gate|tide gates]] along Sunswick Creek, which had been installed to alleviate an infestation of mosquitoes. The residents claimed that the tide gates were actually keeping mosquitoes in the creek, since these gates resulted in stagnant water, and threatened to open the tide gates. In response, the Board of Health suggested filling up their land, which the ''Brooklyn Times-Union'' reported would require the infilling of to a depth of at a total cost over $100,000 (), which was not affordable for most of the neighborhood's residents.<ref>}}</ref> The following April, residents broke down the barriers with axes.<ref>}}</ref> In response, the New York City health commissioner characterized the residents as "living like hogs", prompting outrage from local residents.<ref>}}</ref> Afterward, the Queens [[borough president]], [[Maurice E. Connolly]], announced a plan to install two tide gates on the creek.<ref>}}</ref>
By the end of 1916, the New York City government proposed to close up Sunswick Creek, mandating that households living nearby divert their sewage elsewhere.<ref></ref> A 1920 ''Brooklyn Daily Eagle'' article stated that the former path of the creek had been mostly developed with industrial buildings.<ref>}}</ref> During excavations for a sewer line at Vernon Boulevard and Broadway in 1957, construction workers found remnants of the former grist mill on the creek's mouth.<ref></ref>
== Legacy ==
The creek now exists underground as part of a sewage tunnel, which was documented online by urban explorer Steven Duncan.<ref name="Kadinsky2016" /><ref></ref> According to one blogger, during heavy rains, the creek could be heard near the [[Sohmer and Company Piano Factory]], across from Socrates Sculpture Park.<ref name=":1"></ref> In 2011 and 2012, the Socrates Sculpture Park and [[Noguchi Museum]] commissioned a work from artist [[Mary Miss]], entitled ''Ravenswood/CaLL'', which consisted of several signs and mirrors along the course of the creek.<ref name="Kadinsky2016" /><ref></ref><ref></ref>
==References==
[[Category:Rivers of New York (state)]]
[[Category:History of New York City]]
[[Category:Long Island City]]
[[Category:East River]]
[[Category:Rivers of Queens, New York]]
[[Category:Subterranean rivers of the United States]]
[[Category:Astoria, Queens]]
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