A walk over Manhattan Bridge
A winter stroll from Manhattan to Brooklyn
(Photos/words © urban75, Apr 2009)

Connecting Lower Manhattan (at Canal Street) with Brooklyn (at Flatbush Avenue Extension) on Long Island, the Manhattan Bridge was the last of the three suspension bridges to span the lower East River, being built after the Brooklyn and the Williamsburg bridges.

Here's the all-important stats:
Main span: 1,470 ft (448 m)
Length of suspension cables: 3224 ft (983 m)
Total length: 6,855 ft (2,089 m)



Designed and built by Polish bridge engineer Ralph Modjeski, the suspension bridge was opened to traffic on December 31, 1909 and features four vehicle lanes on the upper level (split between two roadways), with the lower level holding three lanes, four subway tracks, a walkway and a bikeway.

Closed for sixty years, the original pedestrian walkway on the south side of the bridge was reopened in June 2001.

We took a walk over the bridge on a brisk December morning, crossing from the Manhattan side into Brooklyn.


The bridge rises over Chinatown.










Graffiti galore as the bridge gets closer to the East River.








Note the high curved wire fence to discourage 'jumpers.'




Brooklyn Bridge is to the south of the bridge.




A large bronze memorial lists the bridge's specifications, architects and civic main movers.




Looking back at the Brooklyn Bridge and lower Manhattan.






Looking down at the neighbourhood near the bridge on the Brooklyn side, once known as Fulton Landing. Now gentrified, it goes under the name of DUMBO, an acronym for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass.

In this view, you can see the old docks railway tracks embedded in the roadway.





End of the bridge.




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