Interstate 95 in New York

Interstate 95 (I-95) is part of the Interstate Highway System and runs from Miami, Florida, to the Canada–United States border near Houlton, Maine. In the US state of New York, I-95 extends 23.50 miles (37.82 km) from the George Washington Bridge in New York City to the Connecticut state line at Port Chester. The George Washington Bridge carries I-95 across the Hudson River from New Jersey into New York City. There, I-95 runs across Upper Manhattan on the Trans-Manhattan Expressway for 0.81 miles (1.30 km) through Washington Heights. It continues east across the Harlem River on the Alexander Hamilton Bridge and onto the Cross Bronx Expressway. In the Bronx, I-95 leaves the Cross Bronx at the Bruckner Interchange, joining the Bruckner Expressway to its end. North of the interchange with Pelham Parkway, it continues northeast via the New England Thruway (part of the New York State Thruway system) into Westchester County and to the Connecticut state line, where I-95 continues on the Connecticut Turnpike.

The Trans-Manhattan Expressway also carries US Route 1. An average of about 280,000 vehicles traverse the expressway each day. Completed in 1960, the expressway sits below ground level in an open cut; the George Washington Bridge Bus Station and the highrise Bridge Apartments are built over the expressway, creating intermittent tunnels. It is maintained by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ). Although the highway geographically runs east–west, it carries the north–south routings of I-95 and US 1. The westbound lanes carry the southbound designations of both routes, while the eastbound lanes carry the northbound designations.

At its western end, the Trans-Manhattan Expressway is part of I-95, US 1, and US 9 at the eastern approach to the George Washington Bridge. It crosses Fort Washington Park, connecting with the Henry Hudson Parkway (NY 9A) at the park's eastern edge near Riverside Drive and 168th Street. The route continues, crossing the Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights in a cut flanked by 178th Street to the south and 179th Street to the north. Roughly midway across Manhattan, US 9 leaves the freeway to follow Broadway northward toward the Bronx and Westchester County. Proceeding eastward, the road has several ramps that connect to the Harlem River Drive and the expressway's original Harlem River crossing, the Washington Bridge (now carrying 181st Street local traffic over the Harlem River). At Highbridge Park, the roadway crosses the Alexander Hamilton Bridge to the Bronx, where it becomes the Cross Bronx Expressway.

The Trans-Manhattan Expressway replaced tunnels under 178th and 179th Streets as the crosstown route.

The expressway was announced in 1957 and built with the addition of the lower level of the George Washington Bridge. Originally known as the George Washington Bridge Expressway, the highway was originally planned as an open cut between 178th and 179th Streets, traversed by overpasses carrying the major north–south avenues in upper Manhattan. The City of New York approved the creation of the highway in June 1957 as part of a joint effort with the Port Authority that also called for the creation of the lower deck on the George Washington Bridge and construction of the George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal above the cut for the Expressway. The expressway, the main New York approach to the George Washington Bridge, is 0.8 miles long. The projects required the demolition of numerous buildings and the forced move of 1,824 families. Overpasses over the open cut passing under Broadway, Wadsworth Avenue, and St. Nicholas Avenue were in place in December 1959.

The George Washington Bridge Expressway, with three lanes of traffic heading in each direction to and from each deck of the double-decked bridge, opened to traffic in 1962 as part of a $60 million program to improve access roads for the George Washington Bridge, whose lower deck opened that same year.

The expressway was one of the first to use air rights over a major highway. After completion of the expressway, the George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal was built. After purchasing the air rights in 1961, Marvin Kratter built four high-rise apartment buildings, known as the Bridge Apartments, over the expressway. The 32-story buildings are among the world's first aluminum-sheathed high-rise structures. Local traffic reporters frequently refer to congestion "under the Apartments" during morning and evening rush hours.

After exit 2, I-95 crosses over the Harlem River and enters the Bronx, entering an interchange with the Major Deegan Expressway (I-87), which is marked both exit 1C (following with the Cross Bronx Expressway) and exit 3A–B (matching with the Trans-Manhattan Expressway). Now the Cross Bronx Expressway, I-95 and US 1 continue east under University Avenue and enter exit 2A, which serves Jerome Avenue. Crossing under the Grand Concourse, the six-lane expressway crosses into exit 2B, which is for Webster Avenue. This interchange also marks the eastern end of the I-95/US 1 concurrency. Passing south of Tremont Park, the Cross Bronx Expressway westbound serves exit 3, which serves Third Avenue.