Two weeks ago a friend and I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and back – her first time. As stately and classic as it is, I found my eyes drawn to the Manhattan bridge again and again. There’s just something about it, a metallic elegance that I love.
The bridge was opened to traffic on December 31, 1909. In 1910, the year after the bridge opened, the architectural firm Carrère and Hastings drew up preliminary plans for an elaborate Greek Revival grand entry to the bridge on the Manhattan side, as part of the “City Beautiful” movement. The arch and colonnade were completed in 1915 and based on Paris’ Porte Saint-Denis. I want to come down here and see it lit up at night.
It’s a terrifically busy area, but you can cross Bowery and go right up to the wonderful sculptures. I’m a huge sucker for anything Beaux Arts. The sculpture on the eastern side is the “Spirit of Industry”, with Mercury. On the other side is the “Spirit of Commerce”, two recurring themes in NYC for sure. Both are the work of sculptor Carl Augustus Heber.
Today was the day I finally walked the bridge. After a week of drizzle today was glorious and I seized full advantage! A spin around the Battery, Fidi and Chinatown, and then I sauntered onto the walkway. I was glad to see plenty of strollers and joggers.
What I actually loved the most about my walk was the birds-eye view of Two Bridges, the neighborhood between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges. It’s an extension of Chinatown and the streets are packed with shoppers on Saturday mornings. That’s a whole other post I can’t write to write about.
The classic shot down East Broadway, which ends with the statue of Lin Ze Xu at Kimlau Square. The castle-like Manhattan Municipal building (1914) and One World Trade Center (2014) rise behind it all.
The D train rushes by. There are 4 tracks are on the outer part of the bridge, and eventually when a train went over the bridge, that side would tilt three feet lower than the other! Repairs started in 1956 but a major repair was done in the 1980’s. I had read about it, but was still shocked at how much the bridge trembles at their passing. You can feel it strongest when you’re standing still. I’m good with heights, but still found myself grabbing the fence with one hand as a train rumbled by when I stopped for photos.
This shot captures the essence of the Manhattan Bridge for me. It has a clean, yet ornate look. The building behind it is One Manhattan Square (2016) at 252 South St., Two Bridges.
The pedestrian walkway takes you THIS close to the rooftops of Mechanics Alley – it’s so cool! Mechanics Alley is a great walk in itself.
The section demolished in Manhattan to make the bridge was in the midst of the most congested district on the East Side. The buildings, though mostly tenement-houses, were substantial ones and netted the landlords a nice income. Look at the fish drying on a Mechanics Alley fire escape!
Beautiful 125 Madison St. (1891), Two Bridges neighborhood.
I’ve reached the Manhattan anchorage of the bridge. The graffiti really gives it a gritty flavor, but I love it. Definitely a latrine odor, though.
The walkway at the stone anchorages here were made a bit wider to give pedestrians a place to rest – or, more likely, to enjoy the view.
This shot gives you a good feel for what the walkway is like for the majority of the span. Not very wide, but I like it; you feel closer to the traffic and the trains.
The Brooklyn Bridge and the FDR Drive. There is a chain link fence along the walkway, for safety, but if you pay attention you’ll find that a couple of holes have been cut out along the way in the perfect spot to place a camera lens.
Coming up on the first tower I was so curious to see what lay ahead! Look up and see the beautiful detail. I really find this bridge stately and elegant.
Approaching the base of the Manhattan Tower, with it’s lighted canopy.
The Manhattan Tower of the Manhattan Bridge. The weight of the towers is 12,514 tons. They are of steel and were much quicker to build than the massive masonry of the Brooklyn Bridge. Though the bridge was originally gray, it was eventually painted blue – which I love – to match the borough’s color.
The beautiful steel canopy over the plaque at the base of the Manhattan Tower. In 2006 the four canopies were completely disassembled, rebuilt, re-installed and repainted. New bullet shaped lights were also installed and each canopy has 44 of these lights. I’d love to come at night and see them lit but it feels like it’d be pretty sketchy here after dark.
One of the four bronze plaques on the pedestrian walkways on the Manhattan Bridge. Each plaque is 4×8 feet and is located beneath one of the four canopies mounted on the towers. This is pretty crappy, I’m glad I can still read it.
Coming into DUMBO now, feels good. There’s a real laid-back feeling here, and the views are beautiful everywhere you look.
It was fun to zoom in on the folks walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. It sure has more foot traffic than the Manhattan Bridge! On the Brooklyn Bridge, though there’s a bicycle lane, it’s so crowded there’s a struggle not to be in each other’s way, but on the Manhattan Bridge cyclists and walkers travel on separate sides of the bridge.
The Brooklyn Tower of the Manhattan Bridge. This bridge is a real workhorse, it was designed to carry twice as much train traffic as the Brooklyn Bridge. It’s fabulous to sit where you can see both bridges and compare the two, the solid Brooklyn Bridge next to the seemingly “lighter” Manhattan Bridge.
I snapped this view of the walkway as it wraps around the Brooklyn Tower when I was sitting at Pebble Beach, DUMBO a few weeks ago. DUMBO stands for “Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass.” According to the New York Times, the original name ‘Dumbo’ was conceived in the 1970s by a group of artists hoping to deter development.
I was thrilled to zoom in on the beautiful 1922 Jane’s Carousel and Empire Fulton Ferry, Brooklyn.
Jane’s Carousel is a classic 3-row machine with 48 exquisitely carved horses and two superb chariots. It was created in 1922, the heyday of the American Carousel, by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company (P.T.C.) Designated as PTC. No. 61, it was originally installed in Idora Park in Youngstown, Ohio, then a prosperous steel-making city.
Looking across the subway tracks to the bike path on the northern side of the bridge. I was very tempted to take the bike path on my return walk because I wanted to see the north side views, but some of those bikes were really zipping along and I knew they’d rage if I did.
Just the classic shot of the Brooklyn Bridge and lower Manhattan. The water below the Manhattan Bridge is about 135′ deep.
Looking up Washington St. at all the folks enjoying the weather and taking photos of the bridge. Cheese!
This is the shot those folks down there on Washington Street are taking. It’s worth the short walk to see the Empire State Building framed this way. I took this one two weeks ago.
At the Brooklyn anchorage of the Manhattan Bridge. The essential features of any suspension bridge are: first, the cables to support the bridge; second, the towers to support the cables, and third, the anchorages to fasten the ends of the cables.
Busy downtown Brooklyn. The population is about 2.6 million people. Part of Brooklyn’s rise is due to the influx of people who came to Brooklyn after being priced out of Manhattan. According to the New York Times, “With high-rise towers springing up like mushrooms — and retail and restaurants following in their wake — what was once a “9-to-5” area is now active 24 hours a day.”
I wanted to walk to the very end of the bridge to see how the entrance compared to the Manhattan side, but the pedestrian path curved and ended at the sidewalk on Jay St. at Nassau St. There’s a small park there, but I wasn’t able to follow the traffic around as there’s no sidewalk there. Time to turn around.
The span between the two towers is about 1475′, and the entire walk is about 1.3 miles (one way). One thing noticeably different from other suspension bridges is that the cables are entirely above the suspended structure. There was no engineering reason for doing this, only an architectural one.
As an icon, the Manhattan Bridge has been background in many movies, such as “Once Upon A Time In America” with Robert De Niro, “Eat Pray Love”, “I Am Legend” with Will Smith, “The Taking of Pelham 123” with John Travolta, and “The Lonely Guy” with Steve Martin.
If you make your way to Pebble Beach in Brooklyn, you’ll get great views of the bridge. You can sit a while and hear the gentle waves from the boats wash ashore…and bring home a souvenir pebble.
Thanks for walking with me!
Sources:
https://ctgpublishing.com/building-the-manhattan-bridge/ – this has a great article from 1912 about the bridge.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Bridge#Description
http://onthesetofnewyork.com/mostpopularmanhattanbridge.html
https://janescarousel.com/history/
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Manhattan_Bridge_Bronze_Plaque.jpg
https://www.bkmag.com/2013/10/09/what-are-the-real-reasons-behind-brooklyns-popularity/
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/22/realestate/downtown-brooklyn.html
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2 responses to “Exploring the Manhattan Bridge”
These pictures are astounding! Something about them makes me feel happy inside.
And that makes me happy to hear! Thank you for your kind words.