Foreground to the lower Manhattan skyscrapers, the Brooklyn Bridge is a tiny structure. It was one of the several spans that cross the East River. With gateways towering over brick structures around it, its construction was a trademark of advancement in infrastructural technology. During its opening in 1883, it was the world’s largest and longest suspension bridge for twenty years. It is also the first that used steel cable wires and was the longest single span structure for many more years. It was an object of awe for many New Yorkers and was referred to as a symbol for the Great American Dream while immigrant Italian painter Joseph Stella called it a shrine that contains all the efforts of the new civilization of America.
In 1896, the Brooklyn Bridge’s architect and engineer John Augustus Roebling incidentally crushed his foot while taking measurements for the piers and eventually died of tetanus after some three weeks time. The bridge was not put up so easily. After Roebling’s death, his son, Washington took over however he was crippled by the bends in an unsecured underwater caisson. Yet, he managed to direct the work while on his sickbed which was overlooking the site. Total casualties during the construction tolls as much as twenty people and a week after the opening, twelve people died due to a panicked rush that resulted to a stampede on the footbridge’s footpath. Despite the numbers of casualties, including innumerable suicides over many years that took place on the bridge, New Yorkers has lived to admire and look up to the bridge with affection. They celebrate milestone anniversaries with parades and at par with the Empire State Building, they see it as a civic symbol of New York.
The view from below the Brooklyn Bridge is a truly spectacular sight. You can even walk across the wooden planks from Centre Street, however, it is highly discouraged to take a look back once you’re midway through. Follow the pedestrian path straight up to the end, and at the corner of Adams and Tillary Streets in Downtown Brooklyn. The exit of the bridge is the most convenient for sightseeing, by the fist set of stairs. Walking down that path, you’ll end up in the Cadman Plaza. Across the Middagh Street, you’ll reach the Brooklyn Heights or proceed west from Cadman Plaza to go to the Old Fulton Street and the Fulton Ferry District.
[photo courtesy of Listen Missy!]