A lot of large cargo ships and cruise ships use the Hudson. Enough that it would be impractical to build a bridge here that isn’t 200 ft tall.

Source: I can see the river from my window.

Also, the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers in Pittsburgh are much narrower than the Hudson is here.

A fairer comparison is probably the Mississippi River in New Orleans, where the river is really wide. There are only two bridges that cross the river there and because they have to be tall enough to accommodate large ships, they are massive bridges with long approach ramps that no sensible person would want to commute on by foot.