Editing Hell Gate Bridge (section)

=== Critical reception ===
When the bridge was being built, ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote that the bridge's abutments would dwarf the buildings on Wards Islands but that "it will give the idea of lightness and symmetry as well as almost immovable strength".<ref name="nyt-1912-11-10" /> Hornbostel said the main span would "form a veritable triumphal arch at the northerly entrance of the Port of New York",<ref name="n142388040" /> while the [[Railway Gazette International|''Railway Gazette'']] called the project "second in interest only to the [[Quebec Bridge]]" due to its length.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 9, 1915 |title=Railroads. Big Construction Work: in This Country and Canada Breaks Old Records. Quebec and Hell Gate Spans Marvels in Bridges. Magnolin and Lackawanna Cut-offs Surpass All Previous Elforts of Their Kind. |work=Cincinnati Enquirer |page=16 |id={{ProQuest|869227099}}}}</ref> After the main arch was completed, a writer for the ''[[New-York Tribune]]'' said: "Perhaps never in human history has a mechanical triumph of such magnitude been launched with so little fanfare",<ref name="n142410167" /> while ''Outlook'' magazine described it as being "of interest in both the scientific world and in the world of transportation".<ref name="p136977172" /> A writer for ''[[The American Architect]]'' magazine said in 1920 that "there is something picturesque about the long viaduct leading to Hell Gate Bridge".<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Bourne |first=Frank A. |date=August 18, 1920 |title=Department of Architectural Engineering: the Architect a Necessary Factor in Bridge Building Co-operation Between Architect and Engineer Essential to Improved Bridge Design |magazine=The American Architect |page=219 |volume=118 |issue=2330 |id={{ProQuest|124684948}}}}</ref>

A 1972 almanac described the Hell Gate Bridge as one of 84 "notable modern bridges" across the world.<ref name="n142900397">{{Cite news |last=Singleton |first=Donald |date=March 6, 1972 |title=Of Cables, Beams and Beauty |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-of-cables-beams-and-beauty/142900397/ |access-date=March 7, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=216}}</ref> Jeffrey Kroessler and Nina Rappaport, the authors of the 1990 book ''Historic Preservation in Queens'', described the Hell Gate Bridge as one of 35 structures in Queens that they believed were worth designating as official New York City landmarks.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 15, 1990 |title=Postings: 'Historic Preservation in Queens'; Nominees for Landmark Designation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/15/realestate/postings-historic-preservation-in-queens-nominees-for-landmark-designation.html |access-date=March 8, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> At the end of the 20th century, the ''[[Engineering News-Record]]'' wrote that, "Its name notwithstanding, Hell Gate Bridge over the East River in New York City is considered to be one of the world's most beautiful bridges."<ref name="p235664917" />

In 2004, Joe Greenstein of ''Trains'' magazine described Amtrak passengers' view from the bridge as the "spectacular reward for enduring the cramped chaos of [[New York Penn Station|Penn Station]]",<ref>{{harvnb|Greenstein|2004|ps=.|page=49}}</ref> but that the bridge was rarely noticed by those on the ground.<ref name="Greenstein p. 51" /> A writer for the same magazine called the Hell Gate Bridge "one of the most impressive and important railroad structures in America" in 2007.<ref name="p206643782">{{Cite magazine |last=McGonigal |first=Robert S. |date=May 2007 |title=The New York Connecting Railroad: Long Island's Other Railroad |magazine=Trains |page=74 |volume=67 |issue=5 |id={{ProQuest|206643782}}}}</ref> At the bridge's centennial, Greater Astoria Historical Society director Bob Singleton called the Hell Gate Bridge "a school for 20th-century bridge making" and attributed the bridge's relative obscurity to the fact that it did not accommodate vehicles or pedestrians.<ref name="Barone 2017 q167" /> According to Amtrak's deputy chief structural engineer, Jim Richter, the bridge was "a great symbol of the railroad".<ref name="Barron 2017 y521">{{cite web |last=Barron |first=James |date=March 3, 2017 |title=Hell Gate Bridge, a Good Place to Hide From Zombies, Turns 100 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/03/nyregion/hell-gate-bridge-a-good-place-to-hide-from-zombies-turns-100.html |access-date=March 8, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>