9. The General Slocum disaster took place in Hell Gate
On the topic of sunken ships, the most significant of wrecks that took place in Hell Gate happened in 1904 to the PS General Slocum steamboat. The side-wheel boat was carrying upwards of 1,300 members from the St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Manhattan when smoke began to billow from the forward cabin of the ship. The fire spread quickly and caught an unprepared crew off-guard, as that they were never instructed on how to deal with fire-related emergencies on the ship. This terrible tragedy led 1,021 people to their deaths, leaving it as the worst disaster in terms of loss of life in New York City up until the September 11th attacks in 2001.
The fire apparently started with a cigarette or match in the Lamp Room of the vessel. Most of the passengers on the main deck of the ship were aware that a fire had started, but Captain Van Schaik was only notified of the situation 10 minutes after the blaze originally started. The captain refused to bring the ship to shore, apparently to prevent the fire from spreading. Life-saving equipment on the ship, like the life preservers, were painted over or tied in a manner that made them virtually inaccessible. The fact that many of the passengers on board could not swim only made the situation worse. The ship sank just off North Brother Island.
