The downtown bridges of New York Harbor as seen from the South Street
Seaport: the elegant Brooklyn Bridge
(1870-1883), the Manhattan Bridge (1909)
and the Williamsburg
Bridge (1896-1903) in the far distance.
According to the New York City Department
of Transportation there are 2,027 bridges in New York City. The Department of Transportation operates 790
of the 2,027 bridges. Nineteen of DOT’s
bridges are ones that connect different boroughs. The most recognizable bridge in New York City is probably the famous Brooklyn Bridge. The Brooklyn Bridge
was the first suspension bridge and the first to be built of steel. One of the most beautiful bridges is the Verranzo Bridge
(1964) which connects Manhattan to Brooklyn and
Staten Island and extends 7,200 feet; the bridge has a 4,620 foot center span
(in comparison to 4,200 for the Golden Gate
Bridge in San Francisco).
Other well known bridges are the Manhattan Bridge,
the Williamsburg Bridge,
the Queensboro Bridge,
and the George Washington Bridge. Designed by John Augustus Roebling and built by largely German, Irish and
Italian laborers, the Brooklyn Bridge (in the foreground) was completed in 1883 and was the longest suspension
bridge in the world until the construction of another East River bridge, the Williamsburg Bridge, in 1903. The bridge spans the East River and connects Manhattan to Brooklyn. Mr. Roebling died during the bridge’s 13-year
construction period. His son,
Washington, took over but became ill and viewed the completion of the bridge
from his apartment in Brooklyn
Heights. The bridge has inspired artists such as Walt
Whitman and Hart Crane (“The Bridge”). For an exciting read, see The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the
Building of the Brooklyn Bridge by David McCullough.
The city’s first bridge, Kings Bridge,
dates back to 1693. It had stone
abutments and a timber deck and was built over Spuyten Duyvil Creek to connect Manhattan and the Bronx
and was demolished in 1917. The oldest-still-standing-NYC-bridge
is the Highbridge (1843), which
crosses the Harlem River. There are 25 movable NYC bridges.
