Spuyten Duyvil Creek

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Early 1900s map displaying the original path of Spuyten Duyvil Creek.

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Harlem River

Spuyten Duyvil Creek, also known as the Harlem River Ship Canal, is a one-mile-long channel connecting the Hudson and Harlem Rivers in New York City, separating the island of Manhattan from the Bronx and the rest of the mainland. The neighborhood named Spuyten Duyvil lies to the north of the creek.

Spuyten Duyvil Creek originally flowed north of Manhattan's Marble Hill. The construction of the ship canal to the south of the neighborhood in 1895 turned Marble Hill into an island, and when the original creekbed was filled in, in 1914, Marble Hill became physically attached to the Bronx, though it remains part of the borough of Manhattan for legal purposes.

"Spuyten Duyvil" literally means "Devil's Spout" or "Spuitende Duivel" in Dutch; a reference to the strong and wild currents found at that location.