- Blog #15
“Take a walk…across the Brooklyn Bridge”!
Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge is one of most awe-inspiring highlights available for free to all who live in or visit Brooklyn & New York. Just remember to bring a sense of adventure and good footwear. The spectacular vistas and soaring iron suspension will inspire and amaze the eye, as you walk a timeless icon with sky-sweeping views over a magnificent river expanse. It’s a great way to free the spirit and build and appetite for a tasty treat at either end.
The mention of the "The Brooklyn Bridge" brings many iconic images, to mind. The full span of the bridge is 6,016 feet. Long the classic backdrop in over two dozen films; including Splash, On the Town, The French Connection, Sex and the City, Spiderman, Fantastic Four, The Siege, Gangs of New York, It Happened in Brooklyn, Independence Day, I Am Legend, The Dark Knight Rises, and Godzilla! Not to omit, several action movies in which it literally exploded (such as) I Am Legend, Cloverfield, and Deep Impact! Since its grand opening in May24, of 1883. The amazing longevity and charm of the Brooklyn bridge has spanned more than 137 years, clarifying the statement that beauty is truly timeless. Did you know that 35 people try to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge each year, mostly because of broken hearts?
The Brooklyn Bridge stretches majestically over the East River, about 1.4 miles long, linking Manhattan and Brooklyn. The granite towers and steel cables have long offered a safe and scenic passage to millions of commuters, tourists, trains, bicycles, pushcarts, and cars. The bridge’s construction took 14 years to complete and cost $15 million (more than $320 million in today’s dollars). Now more than 125 years later, this proud skyline icon still carries roughly 150,000 vehicles and pedestrians every day. Though free to drive, bike or walk across today, there was once a charge to cross this historic bridge. According to American-Historama.org, "the initial charge to make the Brooklyn Bridge crossing was one penny to cross by foot, 5 cents for a horse and rider to cross and 10 cents for a horse and wagon. The price charged for farm animals were 5 cents per cow and 2 cents per hog or sheep”. Today you can cross for free, no charge for pets!
Recently this wonderful bridge became a more somber path connecting the two boroughs. At the height of New York City’s Covid-19 outbreak, essential workers and cooped up locals in need of exercise utilized the iconic structure. More recently, set against the backdrop of Lady Liberty, residents of both Brooklyn and Manhattan raised their collective voices to challenge inequality and brutality in the United States to use the literal and figurative bridge symbolic to all New Yorkers.
“Elephants Walk Across the Brooklyn Bridge”
To Prove Its Safety! 21 Elephants Walked Across the Newly Opened Brooklyn Bridge! P.T Barnum's elephants walked across the Brooklyn Bridge in 1884. In May of 1883, the opening of theBrooklyn Bridge was big international news. The bridge had been under construction for 13 years, and its unveiling was a highly anticipated event. The Showman P.T. Barnum, never one to turn down a PR opportunity, offered authorities a novel way to show- and show off- the safety of teh new bridge: He' walk his troupe of elephants across it.
At first, his proposal was rejected. But in 1884, after a woman fell on the side stairs on the Manhattan side, causing a stampede that killed 12 people and making others wary that the bridge would collapse, Barnum’s “elephant walk” (the subject of a June, 2004 New Yorker cover) happened. It was to the amazement of New Yorkers who happened to catch the sight of 21 elephants, 7 camels, and 10 dromedaries (basically furry camels) trekking from the bottom of Cortlandt Street across the illuminated arches of the bridge, with Barnum’s celebrated seven-ton African elephant Jumbo bringing up the rear.
The New York Times wrote that the scene, a billboard-sized bit of advertisement for the showman’s American Museum and touring show, appeared to onlookers “as if Noah’s Ark were emptying itself over on Long Island,” and that Jumbo “waved his ears in acknowledgement” of cheers that went up when he reached Brooklyn.
Extra points of note:
The landmark also harbors a more pleasant secret: In the 1900s, the city rented out vaults beneath the ramps leading up to the bridge entrances for use as wine cellars. A wine vault on the Manhattan side cost $5,000 a year, while Brooklyn-side storage was a mere $500 annually.
John Augustus Roebling, the Brooklyn Bridge's creator, was a great pioneer in the design of steel suspension bridges. Born in Germany in 1806, he studied industrial engineering in Berlin and at the age of 25 immigrated to western Pennsylvania, where he attempted, unsuccessfully, to make his living as a farmer.
Quote of the Week:
Great. Also check out Governor's island. Great day trip. Do need reservation for the ferry.
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