Named for John Throckmorton, who settled in the area under the Dutch in 1643, the "Neck" is a peninsula at the extreme southeast of the Bronx, at the base of which a suspension bridge springs off toward Long Island. That span, the Throgs Neck Bridge-designed, like its western neighbor the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, by Othmar H. Ammann-opened in 1961. In the shadow of its north tower is Fort Schuyler, a 19th-century fortification paired with Fort Totten, in Queens, to guard the entrance to the East River. (Today Schuyler houses the New York State Maritime College, a part of the state university.) A beach resort at the turn of the twentieth century, the neighborhood of Throgs Neck today is covered with residences ranging from exclusive beachfront enclaves to a low-income housing project.


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