<P> The port is the nation's top gateway for international flights and its busiest center for overall passenger and air freight flights . There are two foreign - trade zones (FTZ) within the port . The port handled $208 billion in shipping cargo in 2011, and 3,342,286 containers and 393,931 automobiles in 2014 . The largest ship, the CMA CGM Theodore Roosevelt to call at an East Coast port passed under the raised Bayonne Bridge in July 2017, signalling a new era of container capacity . </P> <P> Encompassing an area within an approximate 25 - mile (40 km) radius of the Statue of Liberty National Monument, the port district comprises all or part of seventeen counties in the region . The ten that are completely within the district are Hudson, Bergen, Essex, Union (in New Jersey), Westchester (in New York), and the five boroughs of New York City, which are coterminous with the counties of New York, Bronx, Kings, Queens, and Richmond . Abutting sections of Passaic, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, and Somerset in New Jersey, and Nassau and Rockland in New York are also within the district . </P> <P> New York Harbor is one of the world's largest natural harbors . The Atlantic Ocean is to the southeast of the port . The sea at the entrance to the port is called the New York Bight; it lies between the peninsulas of Sandy Hook and Rockaway . In Lower New York Bay and its western arm, Raritan Bay, vessels orient themselves for passage to the east into Arthur Kill or Raritan River or to the north to The Narrows . To the east lies the Rockaway Inlet, which leads to Jamaica Bay . The Narrows connects to the Upper New York Bay at the mouth of the Hudson River, which is sometimes (particularly in navigation) called the North River . Large ships are able to navigate upstream to the Port of Albany - Rensselaer . To the west lies Kill van Kull, the strait leading to Newark Bay, fed by the Passaic River and Hackensack River, and the northern entrance of Arthur Kill . The Gowanus Canal and Buttermilk Channel are entered from the east . The East River is a broad strait that travels north to Newtown Creek and the Harlem River, turning east at Hell Gate before opening to Long Island Sound, which provides an outlet to the open sea . </P> <P> The port consists of a complex of approximately 240 miles (386 km) of shipping channels, as well as anchorages and port facilities . Most vessels require pilotage, and larger vessels require tugboat assistance for the sharper channel turns . </P>

Why was new york city a good location for a port
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