A Tale of Two Bridges

By on March 7, 2011 3:23 pm in Architecture, brooklyn bridge park, DUMBO, History, Video

Mr. J. takes a long, loving look at two of the great suspension bridges connecting Brooklyn to Manhattan. Video and Karl’s text after the jump.

A Tale of Two Bridges best exemplifies the importance of historical restoration and upkeep versus relegating a bridge to the proverbial trash heap. Limited economic resources apparently have to be distributed with some structures assigned priority designation while others are orphaned and laid to rest. The pedestrian path on the Manhattan Bridge, for example, was closed for decades before reopening in 2001.

We all know about the Brooklyn Bridge from numerous films, music and books. The Manhattan Bridge, on the other hand, is a forgotten child that is better off ignored and kept out of sight.

Well, this film will provide a walk across the bridge with its expansive views and insight into an underbelly of the beast.

The film will expose the good and the bad via pictures and video that clearly demonstrates the results of a city that has nourished one and assigned the other to functioning as a subway and vehicle transportation hub with little regard to its original grandeur.

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  • nabeguy

    Lest you forget Karl, the Brooklyn Bridge also used to have trains running over it. I actually snuck across the Manhattan Bridge footpath during my miscreant youth but I think I was more impressed with the thrill of the forbidden than the actual view, which is not quite as grand and sweeping as the BB.

  • Karl Junkersfeld

    Yea, nabeguy. The BMT.

    The Manhattan Bridge once carried New York State Route 27 and later was planned to carry Interstate 478, according to Wiki.

    While I was taking photo’s the trucks would shake the Bridge making it difficult to film without stabilization. Scary stuff for many reasons. I’m sticking with the Brooklyn Bridge for now on. No trucks allowed.

  • T.K. Small

    One time I was on the Manhattan Bridge in a very slow moving MTA bus. As we sat there in traffic, one could feel and see the entire bridge gently bouncing up and down.

  • Mona Bregman

    Karl,
    As always, thank you your views of on of our treasures. I especially like the last third of the video. Maybe its the music!

  • AEB

    Karl, the vids are getting better and better–and this is the best, in my non-humble opinion. The imagery, editing, music all work as one so that narration is almost superfluous. The story is told.

    So thanks–and more, please!

  • ujh

    Mr. Junkersfeld, an extraordinary evocation worth preserving for posterity. Please consider the video a gift to the Museum of the City of New York!

    The Manhattan Bridge has become my preferred alternative to and from Manhattan because the year-round crowds on the Brooklyn Bridge make walking virtually impossible.