Queensboro Bridge
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The Queensboro Bridge, officially the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, is a
cantilever bridge A cantilever bridge is a bridge built using structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end (called cantilevers). For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beam (structure), beams; however, large cantilever ...
over the
East River The East River is a saltwater Estuary, tidal estuary or strait in New York City. The waterway, which is not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island, ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. Completed in 1909, it connects the
Long Island City Long Island City (LIC) is a neighborhood within the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; Sunnyside to the east; and Newtown Creek, which separates Queens from Greenpoint, Brook ...
neighborhood in the borough of
Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...
with the East Midtown and
Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded approximately by 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street to the north, the East River to the e ...
neighborhoods in
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
, passing over
Roosevelt Island Roosevelt Island is an island in New York City's East River, within the Borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. It lies between Manhattan Island to the west, and the borough of Queens, on Long Island, to the east. It is about long, wit ...
. Because the western end of the bridge connects to 59th Street in Manhattan, it is also called the 59th Street Bridge. The bridge consists of five steel spans measuring long; including approaches, its total length is . The Queensboro Bridge carries
New York State Route 25 New York State Route 25 (NY 25) is an east–west state highway in downstate New York in the United States. The route extends along the central parts and North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island for just over from east ...
(NY 25), which terminates at the bridge's western end in Manhattan. The bridge has two levels: an upper level with a pair of two-lane roadways, and a lower level with four vehicular lanes flanked by a walkway and a bike lane. The western leg of the Queensboro Bridge is paralleled on its northern side by the
Roosevelt Island Tramway The Roosevelt Island Tramway is an aerial tramway that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Roosevelt Island to the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The tramway is the first commuter aerial tramway in the U.S., having opened on May 1 ...
. The bridge is one of four vehicular bridges directly connecting Manhattan Island and
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
, along with the Williamsburg,
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
, and
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
bridges to the south. It lies along the courses of the
New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon, currently branded as the TCS New York City Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 fini ...
and the Five Boro Bike Tour. Serious proposals for a bridge linking Manhattan to Long Island City were first made as early as 1838, but various 19th-century plans to erect such a bridge, including two proposals by Queens doctor Thomas Rainey, never came to fruition. After the creation of the
City of Greater New York The City of Greater New York was the Merger (politics), consolidation of the New York City, City of New York with Brooklyn, western Queens County, and Staten Island, which took effect on January 1, 1898. New York had already annexed the Bronx ...
in 1898, plans for a city-operated bridge were finalized in 1901. The bridge opened for public use on March 30, 1909, and was initially used by pedestrians, horse-drawn and motor vehicles, elevated trains, and trolleys. Elevated service ceased in 1942, followed by trolley service in 1957. The upper-level roadways were built in the early 1930s and the late 1950s. Designated as a
New York City landmark The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and c ...
in 1973, the bridge was renovated extensively from the late 1970s to the 1990s. The bridge was officially renamed in 2011 in honor of former New York City mayor
Ed Koch Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989. Koch was a lifelong Democrat who ...
, and another renovation occurred in the early 2020s.


Name

The Queensboro Bridge was originally named for the borough of
Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...
and was the third bridge across the
East River The East River is a saltwater Estuary, tidal estuary or strait in New York City. The waterway, which is not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island, ...
to be named after a
New York City borough The boroughs of New York City are the five major governmental districts that comprise New York City. They are the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Each borough is coextensive with a respective county of the State of New ...
, after the
Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge is a cable-stayed suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River. It w ...
and the Manhattan Bridge. By the late 20th century, the Queensboro Bridge was also known as the 59th Street Bridge because its Manhattan end is located between 59th and 60th streets. This name caused controversy among Queens residents who felt that the 59th Street Bridge name did not honor the borough of Queens. In December 2010, mayor
Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman and politician. He is the majority owner and co-founder of Bloomberg L.P., and was its CEO from 1981 to 2001 and again from 2014 to 2023. He served as the 108th mayo ...
announced that the bridge would be renamed in honor of former mayor Ed Koch; the bridge had been renovated extensively in the 1980s, when he was mayor. The ''Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge'' name was formalized on March 23, 2011.; ; The renaming was unpopular among Queens residents and business leaders; ''
The Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper in the U.S. and the larges ...
'' wrote that Queens residents found the renaming disrespectful to their borough. The general public continued to call it the Queensboro Bridge years after the renaming.
New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City in the United States. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The council serves as a check against the mayor in a mayor-council government mod ...
member Peter Vallone Jr. of Queens proposed removing Koch's name from the bridge in 2013.


Description

The Queensboro Bridge is a two-level double
cantilever bridge A cantilever bridge is a bridge built using structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end (called cantilevers). For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beam (structure), beams; however, large cantilever ...
, with separate cantilevered spans over channels on each side of
Roosevelt Island Roosevelt Island is an island in New York City's East River, within the Borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. It lies between Manhattan Island to the west, and the borough of Queens, on Long Island, to the east. It is about long, wit ...
joined by a fixed central truss. In all, it has five steel truss spans, as well as approach viaducts on either side. The total length of the five spans, between the anchorages on the Manhattan and Queens sides, are approximately , of which are above water. In addition, there is a approach viaduct in Manhattan and a approach viaduct in Queens, connecting the anchorages on either side to street level. This brings the bridge's total length to . The bridge carries
New York State Route 25 New York State Route 25 (NY 25) is an east–west state highway in downstate New York in the United States. The route extends along the central parts and North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island for just over from east ...
, which ends at the span's western terminus.


Spans

The lengths of the steel spans are as follows, from the westernmost span to the easternmost: The bridge was intended to carry a dead load of . Each span includes two parallel lines of trusses, one each on the north and south sides of the bridge; the centers of these trusses are spaced apart. The bottom chord of each set of trusses is composed of
box girder A box girder or tubular girder (or box beam) is a girder that forms an enclosed tube with multiple walls, as opposed to an i-beam, - or H-beam. Originally constructed of wrought iron joined by riveting, they are now made of rolled steel, rolled ...
s, while the top chord is composed of eyebars measuring deep. The trusses range in height from between the bottom and top chords; the steel towers atop each pier measure tall. Unlike other large bridges, the trusses are not suspended; instead, the spans are directly connected to each other. In addition, there are transverse floor beams, which protrude from the trusses on either side of the deck. Atop the bridge's topmost chords were originally galvanized steel ropes, which acted as handrails for bridge painters. Five hand-operated scaffolds were also placed on the bridge. The spans are cantilevered from steel towers that rise above four central piers. Each cantilevered section measures long. The two spans above the East River's channels are composed of cantilever arms, which extend outward from the towers on either side of the channel. Each pair of cantilever arms meets at a set of bents above the middle of each channel. The bents allowed the cantilever arms to move horizontally due to temperature changes, and it allowed structural loads to be distributed between the two arms. The bridge uses nickel-steel bars that were intended to be 40 to 50 percent stronger than regular structural-steel bars of the same weight. The beams could withstand loads of up to each, while the nickel-steel eyebars were intended to withstand loads of up to . The decks themselves were designed to carry as much as . The steel spans between the anchorages weigh a total of and have a maximum grade of 3.41 percent. The spans were intended to be at least above
mean high water A chart datum is the water level, water surface serving as origin (mathematics), origin (or coordinate surface) of depth (coordinate), depths displayed on a nautical chart and for reporting and predicting tide heights. A chart datum is generally ...
; the bridge reaches a maximum height of or above high mean water. Until it was surpassed by the
Quebec Bridge The Quebec Bridge () is a road, rail, and pedestrian bridge across the lower Saint Lawrence River between Sainte-Foy, Quebec City, Sainte-Foy (a former suburb that in 2002 became the arrondissement Sainte-Foy–Sillery–Cap-Rouge in Quebec Cit ...
in 1917, the span between Manhattan and Roosevelt Island was the longest cantilever in North America; it was also the second-longest worldwide, after the Forth Bridge in Scotland.


Levels

The upper level is wide. The upper level originally contained two pedestrian walkways and two
elevated railway An elevated railway or elevated train (also known as an el train or el for short) is a railway with the Track (rail transport), tracks above street level on a viaduct or other elevated structure (usually constructed from steel, cast iron, concre ...
tracks, which connected a spur of the IRT Second Avenue elevated line in Manhattan to the Queensboro Plaza station in Queens. There were also provisions for two additional tracks between the trusses (taking up the space occupied by the walkways), as well as walkways cantilevered outside the trusses. , the upper level has four lanes of automobile traffic, consisting of a pair of two-lane roadways. Although both roadways end at Thomson Avenue in Queens, they diverge in Manhattan. The two northern lanes, normally used by westbound traffic, lead to 62nd and 63rd Streets. The two southern lanes, normally used by eastbound traffic, lead to 57th and 58th Streets. The southern roadway is used as a westbound
high-occupancy vehicle lane A high-occupancy vehicle lane (also known as an HOV lane, carpool lane, diamond lane, 2+ lane, and transit lane or T2 or T3 lanes) is a restricted traffic lane reserved for the exclusive use of vehicles with a driver and at least one passenger, ...
during morning rush hours, when all eastbound traffic uses the lower level. The lower level is wide and is divided into three sections: a northern, central, and southern roadway. The center roadway is wide and was originally composed of a general-purpose road in the middle, flanked by a pair of trolley tracks. The northern and southern lower-level roadways each had one additional trolley track, for a total of four trolley tracks. The central roadway originally had a wood block pavement. , the lower level has four vehicular lanes: two in each direction within the center roadway. The northern lower-level roadway was converted into a permanent pedestrian walk and bicycle path in September 2000; pedestrians were relocated to the southern lower-level roadway in 2025.


Piers

The five spans are supported by six piers; the westernmost and easternmost piers act as anchorages. Each of the piers consists of two columns supported by an
elliptical arch Elliptical may mean: * having the shape of an ellipse, or more broadly, any oval shape ** in botany, having an elliptic leaf shape ** of aircraft wings, having an elliptical planform * characterised by ellipsis (the omission of words), or by con ...
measuring wide. The piers each measure across at their bases (including the arched openings). They range from tall, with the piers on Roosevelt Island being the tallest. The foundations of the Roosevelt Island piers are shallow, since there is bedrock just below the surface of the island. By comparison, the piers in Manhattan and Queens extend over deep. The piers are faced with Maine granite and are attached to a backing made of concrete and Mohawk Valley limestone. In total, workers used of limestone, of concrete, and of granite to build the bridges. Above the piers rise the bridge's towers, which contain domed decorations and
Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...
-inspired spires. The towers extend above the bridge's lower chords. The tops of the towers are made of 225 granite blocks, which were part of the original design but not added until 1937. The spires were removed at some point in the 20th century after deteriorating. The two anchorages, one each at the Manhattan and Queens ends, are about inland of the shore. Each anchorage was built with spiral staircases and elevators. The anchorage in Manhattan is between First Avenue and York Avenue, while the Queens anchorage is near Vernon Boulevard. The anchorages are topped by small rooms with arched openings.


Approaches

The approaches on both sides of the bridge are composed of stiffened steel frames, but the Manhattan approach is the only one that is ornately decorated. The Queens approach consists of a series of elevated concrete-and-steel ramps, which were never formally decorated.


Manhattan approach

The Manhattan approach to the bridge is supported on a series of
Guastavino tile The Guastavino tile arch system is a version of the Catalan vault introduced to the United States in 1885 by Spanish architect and builder Rafael Guastavino (1842–1908). It was patented in the United States by Guastavino in 1892. Descript ...
vaults. The vaults are composed of three layers of tiles, which support themselves and measure thick in total. A layer of glazing and small lights were installed in 1918. The space under the Manhattan approach measures across. It is divided into a series of tiled vaults measuring across. As the bridge ascends to the east, the floor slopes down and the ceiling slopes up; as such, the ceiling measures high at its highest point. The Guastavino tiles cover the steel
superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...
of the approach ramp. Originally, the vaults were intended as storage space. From the bridge's 1909 opening, the space under the Manhattan approach was used as a food market. The food market was renovated in 1933 and was later converted to a sign shop and garage. By the 1970s, the space under the Manhattan approach was used by the Department of Highways.
New York City Center New York City Center (previously known as the Mecca Temple, City Center of Music and Drama, and the New York City Center 55th Street Theater) is a performing arts center at 131 West 55th Street (Manhattan), 55th Street between Sixth Avenue, Six ...
's Cinematheque leased space under the Queensboro Bridge in 1973, although the Cinematheque never opened due to a lack of money. A developer proposed the open-air Bridgemarket under the bridge in 1976, which local residents significantly opposed, and Bridgemarket was not approved until 1996. Bridgemarket, covering , opened in 1999 at a cost of $24 million. The store operated until the end of 2015. In February 2020, it was announced that
Trader Joe's Trader Joe's is an American grocery store chain headquartered in Monrovia, California, with 597 locations across the US. The first Trader Joe's store was opened in 1967 by founder Joe Coulombe in Pasadena, California. In 1979, the chain was s ...
was planning to open a
supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...
in this space, which opened in December 2021. There is a massive bronze lamppost at the end of the Manhattan approach, near the intersection of Second Avenue and 59th Street. Formerly, there was a second lamppost near 60th Street. Both lampposts consisted of thick piers, which were topped by four
stanchion A stanchion () is a sturdy upright fixture that provides support for some other object. It can be a permanent fixture. Types In architecture, stanchions are the upright iron bars in windows that pass through the eyes of the saddle bars or horiz ...
s (each with a globe-shaped lamp) and a larger spherical lamp in the center. Each lamppost had five tiers of decorations, and the sides of each lamppost were inscribed with the names of four of the city's five boroughs. The lampposts were both removed in 1974 when the
Roosevelt Island Tramway The Roosevelt Island Tramway is an aerial tramway that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Roosevelt Island to the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The tramway is the first commuter aerial tramway in the U.S., having opened on May 1 ...
was developed, but the 59th Street lamppost was restored two years later. Parts of the other lamppost were found in a Queens warehouse in 2012 and rededicated on Roosevelt Island in 2015. 59thstbridge2007.jpg, Looking east from Manhattan toward Queens Bridgemarket north side jeh.jpg, Bridgemarket on Manhattan side


Use during races

The Queensboro Bridge has been part of the
New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon, currently branded as the TCS New York City Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 fini ...
course since
1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...
, when the marathon course traversed all five boroughs for the first time. During the marathon, which happens every November, runners cross the Queensboro Bridge westbound toward Manhattan, then pass under the bridge at First Avenue. The bridge is approximately from the beginning of the course on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. The deck of the bridge was initially covered with carpeting for the 1976 marathon; the carpeting was not used after
1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...
, when the bridge was repaved. The bridge is also part of the course of the Five Boro Bike Tour, which occurs every April; contestants traverse the bridge eastbound toward Queens. , the Five Boro Bike Tour uses the northern upper-level roadway.


Development


Planning

Prior to the construction of the Queensboro Bridge, two ferries connected modern-day Manhattan and Queens, neither of which were near the modern-day bridge. One such ferry connected Borden Avenue in Hunters Point, Queens, to
34th Street 34th Street most commonly refers to 34th Street (Manhattan) 34th Street is a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It runs the width of Manhattan Island from the West Side Highway on the West Side to FDR Drive on t ...
in
Kips Bay, Manhattan Kips Bay, or Kip's Bay, is a List of Manhattan neighborhoods, neighborhood on the east side of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by 34th Street (Manhattan), 34th Street to the north, the East ...
, while the other ferry connected
Astoria Boulevard Astoria Boulevard is an important east–west commercial street in Astoria and East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City. It runs from 1st Street at the East River to the World's Fair Marina on Flushing Bay, where it merges with Northern Boule ...
in
Astoria, Queens Astoria is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City Boroughs of New York City, borough of Queens. Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to four other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City, Queens, Long Island C ...
, with 92nd Street on Manhattan's
Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded approximately by 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street to the north, the East River to the e ...
.
Benjamin Henry Latrobe Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe (May 1, 1764 – September 3, 1820) was a British-American Neoclassical architecture, neoclassical architect who immigrated to the United States. He was one of the first formally trained, professional architects in ...
first proposed a masonry bridge between Manhattan and Queens in 1804. ''The Family Magazine'' published an article in 1833, suggesting a bridge between Manhattan and Queens over
Roosevelt Island Roosevelt Island is an island in New York City's East River, within the Borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. It lies between Manhattan Island to the west, and the borough of Queens, on Long Island, to the east. It is about long, wit ...
(which then was known as Blackwell's Island). An architect named R. Graves proposed a three-span
suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...
linking Manhattan to
Long Island City Long Island City (LIC) is a neighborhood within the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; Sunnyside to the east; and Newtown Creek, which separates Queens from Greenpoint, Brook ...
. Queens, in the late 1830s. John A. Roebling, who would later design the Brooklyn Bridge, proposed suspension bridges at the site in 1847 and 1856.


Rainey attempts

An attempt to finance a fixed East River crossing was made in 1867 by wealthy Long Island City residents, who established the ''New-York and Long Island Bridge Company'' to erect the crossing. This group was led by Thomas Rainey, a doctor from Astoria. The crossing would have connected 77th Street in Manhattan and 34th Avenue in Queens, passing over the center of Blackwell's Island. The New-York and Long Island Bridge Company appointed commissioners for the proposed bridge in 1875 and hosted an
architectural design competition An architectural competition is a type of design competition, in which an entity that intends to build new work, or is just seeking ideas, invites architects to submit design proposals. The winning scheme is usually chosen by an independent panel ...
for the bridge in 1876. A cantilever design by Charles Macdonald and the Delaware Bridge Company was selected in early 1877, but no action had been taken by 1878, a year after the plans were approved. Media sources reported in May 1881 that work was to commence shortly, and a
cofferdam A cofferdam is an enclosure built within a body of water to allow the enclosed area to be pumped out or drained. This pumping creates a dry working environment so that the work can be carried out safely. Cofferdams are commonly used for constru ...
for one of the bridge's piers was installed that month. By the time the
United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...
approved plans for the bridge in 1887, Rainey's bridge had been relocated southward. A state justice found in 1890 that the bridge's charter was invalid. Nonetheless, Rainey's efforts to build the bridge made his name "a household word in western Long Island".By the 1890s,
Long Island Rail Road The Long Island Rail Road , or LIRR, is a Rail transport, railroad in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County on Long Islan ...
(LIRR) president Austin Corbin had merged Rainey's plan and a competing plan. Rainey resubmitted plans for the bridge in early 1890. The state legislature gave Rainey a charter for the Blackwell's Island Bridge in mid-1892. Corbin received an option to buy out Rainey's charter, and a groundbreaking ceremony for the bridge was held at 64th Street in Manhattan on August 19, 1894. The span was planned as a cantilever bridge carrying four LIRR tracks, as well as roadways and footpaths. By that November, two cofferdams were being sunk for the bridge's piers. Laborers began constructing foundations for another pier on the eastern shore of Blackwell Island in April 1895. Stone and steel contracts had been awarded by the following year, and two of the piers had been built above the water line. Construction was halted after the piers were built, first due to lawsuits, then because of Corbin's death.


Post-unification approval

Manhattan and Queens were merged into the
City of Greater New York The City of Greater New York was the Merger (politics), consolidation of the New York City, City of New York with Brooklyn, western Queens County, and Staten Island, which took effect on January 1, 1898. New York had already annexed the Bronx ...
in 1898, spurring alternate plans for a bridge between Manhattan and Queens. New York Assembly members proposed separate bills in early 1898 to revoke Rainey's franchise for the bridge and to have the city purchase Rainey's franchise. Rainey vowed not to sell his franchise, but the state legislature passed a bill in March 1900 allowing the city to take over Rainey's franchise. Although Rainey himself eventually consented to the city's takeover of his franchise, mayor Robert Anderson Van Wyck wanted to build a new bridge in a slightly different location. A New York state senator introduced legislation in early 1897 to permit the development of a bridge between Manhattan and Queens; the unified city government was to pay for the bridge. At a meeting in Long Island City in February 1898, a group of men from both boroughs were appointed to consider plans for the bridge. By late 1898, Queens residents were threatening to not vote for the Democratic Party (of which Van Wyck was part) if the construction of the bridge did not begin shortly. The city allocated $100,000 for preliminary surveys and borings for the Blackwell's Island Bridge, as well as the Williamsburg Bridge between Manhattan and Brooklyn, at the end of 1898. In early 1899, R. S. Buck published plans for an asymmetrical cantilever bridge connecting Queens with Manhattan; the early plans called for a utilitarian design. The New York City Bridge Department's chief engineer finalized plans for the bridge in October 1899. Coler drew up a plan for a tunnel between Queens and Manhattan via Blackwell's Island; he claimed that the tunnel would cost $1.9 million, while the bridge would cost $13 million. The Board of Aldermen appropriated $1 million for the bridge at the end of 1899. State assemblyman Edward C. Brennan proposed a bill in January 1900 to appoint commissioners for a bridge or tunnel between Manhattan and Queens. The city's Municipal Assembly initially failed to authorize the bridge's construction due to opposition from
Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was an American political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789, as the Tammany Society. It became the main local ...
politicians. The bridge was approved that November; the bridge was relocated southward so its Manhattan end was near 60th Street. The
United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, als ...
, which had to certify the plans for the bridge before any work could begin, approved the span's construction in February 1901. Initially, the crossing was referred to as East River Bridge No. 4; the Board of Aldermen voted to officially rename it the Blackwell's Island Bridge in March 1902.


Construction


Pier construction and proposed modifications

R. S. Buck and his assistants were directed to prepare plans for the sites of the bridge's piers, anchorages, and
foundations Foundation(s) or The Foundation(s) may refer to: Common uses * Foundation (cosmetics), a skin-coloured makeup cream applied to the face * Foundation (engineering), the element of a structure which connects it to the ground, and transfers loads f ...
. The Department of Bridges received bids for the foundations in June 1901, with Ryan & Parker as the low bidder.
Groundbreaking Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod, turf-cutting, or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such cer ...
took place that September. After
Seth Low Seth Low (January 18, 1850 – September 17, 1916) was an American educator and political figure who served as the mayor of Brooklyn from 1881 to 1885, the president of Columbia University from 1890 to 1901, a diplomatic representative of ...
was elected as the city's mayor in late 1901, he promised that work would continue, even though the city's new bridge commissioner, Gustav Lindenthal, wanted to temporarily halt construction. Lindenthal narrowed the bridge from . The modifications would allow the city to save $850,000 while allowing the city to build toll booths, as well as stairs and elevators to Blackwell's Island, within these piers. To compensate for the reduced width, a upper deck would be built. By January 1902, only $42,000 had been spent on the project. In June 1902, a subcommittee of the
New York City Board of Estimate The New York City Board of Estimate was a governmental body in New York City responsible for numerous areas of municipal policy and decisions, including the city budget, land-use, contracts, franchises, and water rates. Under the amendments eff ...
requested another $5 million for construction. The same month, Lindenthal ordered Ryan & Parker to stop working on the bridge, but the firm refused to comply with his order, saying they would lose large amounts of money if work were halted. Lindenthal submitted the modified plans to the
Municipal Art Society The Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS) is a non-profit membership organization for preservation in New York City, which aims to encourage thoughtful planning and urban design and inclusive neighborhoods across the city. The organization was ...
for approval but withdrew them that July, and he also allowed Ryan & Parker to continue constructing the piers. Lindenthal decided to significantly modify his plans. Queens residents strongly protested any design changes, and Lindenthal finally agreed not to change the bridge's width. By mid-1902, Lindenthal was requesting an additional $3.78 million for the bridge's completion. In October, a special committee recommended that Lindenthal's plans be rejected, saying that it would cost the city more if construction were halted and that two other East River bridges were also about 120 feet wide. City comptroller Edward M. Grout, meanwhile, wanted workers to divert their efforts to the Manhattan Bridge. Low appointed a group of engineering experts that November to review Lindenthal's revised plans. The experts concluded that neither the original proposal nor Lindenthal's revision were sufficient and suggested that the bridge instead be wide. The approaches retained their original 120-foot width, as did the piers themselves. Henry Hornbostel was directed in early 1903 to prepare drawings of the bridge's towers and roadway, though no architectural contract had been awarded yet. By mid-1903, the piers were two-thirds completed. The bedrock under the Queens side of the bridge was very close to the ground, so work on the piers in Queens was able to proceed more rapidly than work on the other piers. The Board of Estimate appropriated an additional $3.86 million for the bridge's construction in July 1903. Low rejected a plan for widening 59th Street to serve as the bridge's Manhattan approach, and Queens residents disagreed over plans for the Queens approach. The final plans called for the Queens approach to end at Crescent Street; a new boulevard, Queens Plaza, would connect the approach to Jackson Avenue and
Queens Boulevard Queens Boulevard is a major thoroughfare connecting Midtown Manhattan, via the Queensboro Bridge, to Jamaica in Queens, New York City, United States. It is long and forms part of New York State Route 25. Queens Boulevard runs northwest to ...
. All of the piers were finished by May 1904, and city officials inspected the bridge's piers that July.


Initial work on superstructure

The Pennsylvania Steel Company submitted a bid to construct the bridge's superstructure for $5.3 million in September 1903; Lindenthal rejected the bid, suspecting that the company was engaging in collusion. The city requested further bids for the superstructure the next month, but an injunction prevented Lindenthal from awarding a steel contract. The Pennsylvania Steel Company received the steel contract that November, and the Art Commission approved plans for the bridge's spires the same month. Just before Lindenthal left office, the city received bids for four elevator towers and two powerhouses for the bridge at the end of 1903; the powerhouses were to supply the elevators. These elevators were to be positioned within the ends of the piers, which would make it impossible to widen the piers at a later date. City corrections commissioner Francis J. Lantry opposed the elevators because they would allow prisoners on Blackwell's Island to escape. In early 1904, Lindenthal's successor George Best canceled plans for ornamentation on the bridge. The Pennsylvania Steel Company was obligated to complete the superstructure by the beginning of 1907, and it submitted drawings for the construction of the superstructure in mid-1904. Later that year, Best postponed construction of the bridge's elevators and power houses, and the city authorized another $400,000 for the bridge's construction. Local merchants protested the postponement of the elevators, saying it would not save money. Before work on the superstructure began, workers erected seventeen temporary bents between the two piers on Blackwell's Island. When the bents were almost complete, ironworkers organized a sympathetic strike in June 1905, in solidarity with striking workers at the Pennsylvania Steel Company's
Harrisburg Harrisburg ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat, seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50, ...
factory. The work stoppage lasted a month, during which workers were not allowed to complete steel castings for the bridge. By that August, over of steel castings had been completed, and another of castings were being fabricated. There was not enough material to begin constructing the superstructure. There were so few workers on site, a local group estimated that the bridge would not be completed for fifty years. Work on the superstructure began later in 1905. By that November, workers had erected part of a steel tower atop the pier on the western side of Blackwell's Island; at the time, the media anticipated that of steel would be erected every month. The first steel span, that above Blackwell's Island, was completed at the beginning of 1906. After the Blackwell's Island span was finished, the falsework was moved to Manhattan and Queens, and the westernmost and easternmost spans were built atop the falsework. At that point, the city government had acquired much of the land for the approaches. The bridge's construction was delayed when the Housesmiths' Union went on strike that January. Unions representing other trades refused to join the strike, and the Pennsylvania Steel Company had replaced the striking workers by that May. The strike delayed construction by four months. City officials condemned a strip of land for the Queens approach viaduct in October 1906.


Progress on superstructure and approaches

The city's Bridge Commission received bids for the construction of a steel approach viaduct in Queens in December 1906, and the Buckley Realty Construction Company submitted a low bid of $798,000. Work on the Queens approach began in February 1907. By then, about of steel for the bridge, representing nine-tenths of the steel contract, had been manufactured. Workers erected 512 tons of steel each day. To erect the two spans across the East River's west and east channels, they first built steel towers above each pier, then constructed the cantilever arms from each tower toward the center of the river. As such, the bridge was essentially built in three sections in Manhattan, Blackwell's Island, and Queens.; By early 1907, the cost of acquiring land for the approaches had increased to $6 million, double the original estimate, and the cost of the entire bridge had increased to as much as $18 million. Snare & Triest submitted a low bid of $1.577 million for the construction of the Manhattan approach that May, and work on that approach began that July. After the collapse of the similarly designed Quebec Bridge in mid-1907, engineers said they had no concerns about the Blackwell's Island Bridge. The steel towers above both of the Blackwell's Island piers had been completed and were being painted. That September, some beams at the eastern end of the bridge were blown into the river during a heavy windstorm. The same month, Maryland Steel Company submitted a low bid of $758,000 for a steel-and-masonry approach in Queens. Several buildings in Long Island City, including rowhouses and an old homestead, were demolished for the Queens approach. The easternmost steel span was well underway by the end of 1907, and work on the steel towers on the Manhattan and Queens waterfronts began that December. At the time, the bridge was more than 70 percent complete. Although Manhattan residents supported widening 59th Street to serve as the bridge's Manhattan approach, the city's controller was opposed. The project continued to experience labor disputes, such as in early 1908, when disgruntled workers tried to destroy the Blackwell's Island span with dynamite.


Completion

The Manhattan and Blackwell's Island sections of the bridge were riveted together on March 13, 1908, and the Blackwell's Island and Queens sections were linked on March 18. The Board of Aldermen appropriated another $1.2 million for the bridge's completion shortly afterward; the project had cost $6.2 million up to that point. The New York City Department of Finance's chief engineer began investigating the bridge in May 1908 in response to concerns over its structural integrity, as the bridge was similar to the collapsed
Quebec Bridge The Quebec Bridge () is a road, rail, and pedestrian bridge across the lower Saint Lawrence River between Sainte-Foy, Quebec City, Sainte-Foy (a former suburb that in 2002 became the arrondissement Sainte-Foy–Sillery–Cap-Rouge in Quebec Cit ...
, and the plans had been modified after the contract for the superstructure had been awarded. That June, the Board of Estimate authorized $30,000 for two investigations into the bridge's safety. The Pennsylvania Steel Company formally completed the superstructure on June 16, 1908, eighteen months behind schedule. The Department of Bridges began receiving bids that July for paving and electrical equipment, and the approach viaducts were completed on August 17. The city refused to pay Pennsylvania Steel until 1912, when a judge forced them to do so. Businessmen proposed renaming the crossing as the Queensboro Bridge in September 1908, saying the Blackwell Island name was too closely associated with the island's hospitals and asylums. Despite several Irish-American groups' objections that the Queensboro name resembled a British name, it stuck. The structural engineers tasked with studying the bridge concluded that it was structurally sound, although the bridge was altered to carry two elevated tracks rather than four. There was still skepticism over the bridge's structural integrity, and the Bridge Department planned to remove some heavy stringers from the upper deck to reduce the bridge's dead load. Paving of the bridge's decks was completed in January 1909. In total, the crossing had cost about $20 million, including $12.6 million for spans and over $5 million for land acquisition. One newspaper had estimated that 55 workers had been killed during construction.


Operational history


Opening and 1910s

In February 1909, the Celebration Committee set June 12 as the bridge's official opening date, and two grand parades were planned for the bridge's official opening. The lights on the bridge were first turned on March 28, and the bridge opened to the public two days later on March 30, 1909. The upper deck's tracks were not in service because engineers had deemed them unsafe for use. The Queensboro Bridge formally opened as scheduled on June 12, 1909;; ; at the time, it was the fourth-longest bridge in the world. The grand opening included a fireworks display, a parade lasting several hours, a "Queen of the Queensboro Bridge" beauty pageant in a local newspaper, and a week of carnivals. During late 1909, the Williams Engineering and Contracting Company sued the city for damages relating to the unbuilt elevators on Blackwell's Island, and there was another lawsuit over its safety. Tolls on the bridge were abolished in 1911. A bridge approach between Second and Third avenues in Manhattan was proposed in 1913, and plans for elevated rapid transit on the upper level were approved at the same time.; By that year, the bridge carried 29 million people a year (compared to 3.6 million during 1909). Horse-drawn vehicles made up almost 30 percent of the bridge's total vehicular traffic in the early 1910s, which dropped to less than 2 percent within a decade. In mid-1914, engineers devised plans to add two subway tracks to the lower level and replace the existing roadway with a pair of roadways on the upper and lower levels. The upper roadway would have connected to Van Alst Avenue (21st Street) in Queens; one company proposed constructing the deck in 18 months. The subway plans were ultimately dropped in favor of the 60th Street Tunnel. In early 1916, the New York City government allocated $144,000 for repairs to the roadway, as it had never been repaved and was full of holes and ruts. A new foundation was installed to slow down the decay of the wooden pavement. Simultaneously, the city's Public Service Commission had approved the construction of connections between the bridge's upper-level tracks and the elevated lines at either end. Elevated service across the bridge commenced in July 1917,; and the entire repaving project was nearly done later that year.


1920s to 1940s

By the early 1920s, one hundred thousand people a day used the span, and the Queensboro Bridge and the other East River bridges were rapidly reaching their vehicular capacity. One count in 1920 found that an estimated 18,000 motor vehicles used the bridge daily, while another count in 1925 found that 45,000 vehicles used the span in 24 hours. Proposals to relieve traffic on the bridge included a ferry from Manhattan to Queens;; larger signs pointing to existing ferries; a parallel bridge; and a parallel tunnel (later the Queens–Midtown Tunnel). Traffic on the bridge more than doubled from 1924 to 1932, though the opening of new vehicular crossings caused congestion to increase less rapidly after 1932. By the mid-1930s, the bridge handled an average of 110,000 vehicles daily. When the Queens–Midtown Tunnel opened in 1940, ''The New York Times'' predicted it would relieve congestion on the Queensboro Bridge.


1920s modifications and new roadway

The Manhattan approach viaduct was repaired in 1920, and city officials began adding a concrete pavement to the bridge in mid-1924. Engineers determined at the time that a hard-surfaced roadway would be too heavy for the bridge. Queens borough president Maurice E. Connolly said the weight of trucks had caused the steel buckle plates under the pavement to break, though the commissioner of the city's Plant and Structure Department said the bridge was still safe and that stronger plates were being installed. In addition, Manhattan borough president Julius Miller proposed a plaza and a new approach road at the Manhattan end in 1924, and he submitted plans to acquire property for the plaza and road later the same year. Miller revised his plans in 1925, calling for a tunnel under Second Avenue and a new street east of the avenue between 57th and 63rd streets. To alleviate congestion, one of the bridge's lanes was used as a
reversible lane A reversible lane, also known as variable lane, dynamic lane, and tidal flow, is a managed lane in which traffic may travel in either direction, depending on certain conditions. Typically, it is meant to improve traffic flow during rush hours, b ...
during peak hours. In late 1926, Plant and Structure commissioner Albert Goldman proposed adding three vehicular lanes and removing the bridge's footpaths; the proposal also called for new approaches at either end and relocation of the elevated tracks. The Merchants Association and the Fifth Avenue Association endorsed this plan. The Board of Estimate allocated $150,000 for improvements to the bridge in April 1927, and the board approved the $3 million plan that June. The project was delayed due to difficulties in acquiring property, and the city controller's office contemplated abandoning plans for the new approaches. In late 1928, the Board of Estimate allowed construction to commence on both the new lanes and the approach viaducts at either end. To reduce congestion, the Manhattan ends of the upper and lower roadways were apart, while the Queens ends of these roadways were about apart. Real-estate developers supported the project because it would encourage real-estate and business activity in Queens. Fire extinguishers and chemical carts, for fighting small fires, were also installed on the bridge in 1928. Goldman publicized his plans for the southern upper roadway in April 1929, and the T. H. Reynolds Company had been hired to move the elevated tracks by the next month. The Bersin Construction Company received a contract for the new roadway in August 1929 and started construction the same month. A contract for the Queens approach viaduct was awarded to Bersin-Ronn Engineering Corporation in April 1930. The upper roadway was substantially completed by early 1931; it opened that June and carried only eastbound cars. By then, the bridge was carrying almost 100,000 vehicles a day. A new footpath was also constructed on the south side of the upper level; but was not opened with the upper roadway. Initially, the upper deck had a wood, granite, and asphalt pavement. It contained grooves for motorists' tires, preventing them from changing lanes; after drivers complained about damaged tires, the grooves were first widened, then infilled by September.


1930s and 1940s modifications

To reduce congestion, one civic group suggested a plaza at the bridge's Manhattan end in the early 1930s, while Manhattan's borough president Samuel Levy proposed building an underpass to carry traffic on Second Avenue beneath the Manhattan end of the bridge. Precipitation had begun to corrode the bridge's steel supports, as the masonry work had never been completed; this prompted a
grand jury A grand jury is a jury empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a person to testify. A grand ju ...
investigation into the bridge's safety in 1934. Additionally, in mid-December of that year, the roadway was designated as part of
New York State Route 25 New York State Route 25 (NY 25) is an east–west state highway in downstate New York in the United States. The route extends along the central parts and North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island for just over from east ...
and
New York State Route 24 New York State Route 24 (NY 24) is a east–west State highway (US), state highway on Long Island in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The highway is split into two segments; the longer western section extends from an I ...
when those designations were extended. In 1934, westbound motorists began using the upper southern roadway during weekday mornings, Sundays, and holiday evenings; the upper roadway continued to carry eastbound traffic at all other times. To reduce congestion, traffic agents began controlling traffic at each end of the bridge in July 1935, and lane control lights for the lower level's reversible lanes were installed later the same year. The bridge's wooden pavement also posed a hazard during rainy weather and made the bridge one of the city's most dangerous roadways by the mid-1930s. This prompted local groups to call for the installation of a non-skid pavement. Workers repaved the upper level in early 1935 and began installing an experimental concrete-and-steel pavement on the lower level that April. City officials also contemplated adding an
asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...
-plank pavement to the bridge.
Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...
(WPA) laborers began repaving the lower level in March 1936; The city government also planned to add lane markings to the lower roadway and convert the upper roadway permanently into a one-way road. After delays caused by material and labor shortages, the repaving of the lower level was completed in June 1937. WPA laborers also completed the tops of the bridge's towers. WPA workers began rebuilding the upper level pavement in July 1938, and the upper roadway closed that October, reopening two months later. By 1942, the city government was planning to shutter and dismantle the Second Avenue Elevated tracks across the Queensboro Bridge; the line closed in June 1942, and it was demolished by the end of the year. There were also plans in the mid-1940s to connect the bridge's Queens terminal with an expressway running to the
John F. Kennedy International Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport is a major international airport serving New York City and its metropolitan area. JFK Airport is located on the southwestern shore of Long Island, in Queens, New York City, bordering Jamaica Bay. It is ...
. The City Planning Commission proposed rebuilding the Manhattan end of the bridge in late 1946; and adding an eight-story parking garage above the approach viaduct. This proposal was postponed due to a lack of money. The bridge was repainted in 1948, and a $12 million renovation of the bridge was announced the next year. The plan included two extra lanes on the upper level, new pavement, a bus terminal in Manhattan, and cloverleaf ramps at the Manhattan approach. The city government was concurrently planning the Welfare Island Bridge, which would allow people to access Welfare Island without needing to use the Queensboro Bridge's elevator.


1950s and 1960s

Officials installed fences in 1951 to prevent jaywalking at the Manhattan approach, and the city's parking authority contemplated erecting a parking garage west of the bridge's Manhattan terminus the same year. Public Works commissioner Frederick H. Zurmuhlen announced that October that his office was preparing plans for the northern upper roadway, and he petitioned the city government for $6.5 million for the new roadway. By the next year, plans for the roadway and its Manhattan approach were complete, and workers were demolishing buildings to make way for the roadway's Manhattan approach. Zurmuhlen requested $8.2 million from the city in 1953 for the construction of the roadway; in exchange, he dropped plans for a bus terminal at the Manhattan end of the bridge. The bridge's approaches were repaved in 1954. The Board of Estimate allocated $7.7 million in June 1955 for the construction of the northern upper roadway and approach ramps. With the opening of the Welfare Island Bridge that year, the city shuttered the trolley lanes, mid-bridge station, and stairs to Roosevelt Island, and it also planned to close down the bridge's elevators. The last trolley traversed the bridge in April 1957,; and the elevators and stairs on the Queens side of the bridge were closed the same month, although the elevator in Roosevelt Island would not be demolished for 13 years. The Queens approach ramps were also rebuilt, accounting for over two-thirds of the project's cost. The Thomson Avenue ramp was completed first, followed by the ramp to 21st Street in late 1957. The northern upper roadway opened in September 1958, and the bridge was formally rededicated in April 1959 for its 50th anniversary. In 1958,
Consolidated Edison Consolidated Edison, Inc., commonly known as Con Edison (stylized as conEdison) or ConEd, is one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the United States, with approximately $12 billion in annual revenues as of 2017, and over $62 ...
proposed converting the lower-level trolley tracks into vehicular lanes in exchange for permission to install power cables under the bridge. Consolidated Edison spent $4 million in 1960 to install power cables, convert the trolley tracks, and construct slip roads between the lower-level roadways. The new lanes, on the northern and southern sides of the bridge, opened on September 15, 1960. The same year, Manhattan borough president Louis A. Cioffi proposed a $2.06 million ramp at the Manhattan end of the bridge. Also during the early 1960s, the city's Department of Public Works requested funding for a feasibility study of additional roadways, and the city's traffic commissioner Henry Barnes studied the feasibility of a computer-controlled traffic monitoring system for the bridge. In 1964, the NY 24 designation was removed from the road deck, leaving a solo NY 25 to do so. That same year, mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. approved the demolition of several buildings for a proposed underpass connecting the bridge's westbound lanes with Second Avenue in Manhattan. Had the underpass been built, a bus terminal and landscaped plaza would also have been erected at the Manhattan end of the bridge. These plans were scrapped due to a lack of funding. City planner
Robert Moses Robert Moses (December 18, 1888 – July 29, 1981) was an American urban planner and public official who worked in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid-20th century. Moses is regarded as one of the most powerful and influentia ...
proposed a 1,000-space parking garage at the bridge's Manhattan end in 1965, though Barnes objected to the plan. Instead, Barnes proposed a 1,100-spot garage on the Queens side, which was approved in June 1966. The bridge was repainted for seven months starting in November 1966 at a cost of $240,000. Between 1968 and 1970, officials commissioned five studies of Queensboro Bridge traffic, but no changes were made as a result.


1970s to 1990s


Landmark status and deterioration

During the early 1970s, a small terminal for express buses was also proposed for the Manhattan end of the bridge, but it was not built. On November 23, 1973, the
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the Government of New York City, New York City agency charged with administering the city's Historic preservation, Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting Ne ...
(LPC) designated the Queensboro Bridge as a city landmark, preventing any modifications without the LPC's approval. It was the second East River bridge to be so designated, after the Brooklyn Bridge. The Board of Estimate delayed ratification of the landmark designation because some space under the bridge's approaches was used for commercial purposes. The northern lower-level roadway was closed in 1976 while the wires underneath the deck were being replaced. By the mid-1970s, as the city government considered an open-air market under the bridge, a city engineer described the bridge as severely deteriorated. Among the issues cited were extensive rusting, faulty
expansion joint A expansion joint, or movement joint, is an assembly designed to hold parts together while safely absorbing temperature-induced expansion and contraction of building materials. They are commonly found between sections of buildings, bridges, s ...
s, clogged drains, potholes, and dirt.
New York State Department of Transportation The New York State Department of Transportation'' (NYSDOT) is the department of the Government of New York (state), New York state government responsible for the development and operation of highways, Rail transport, railroads, mass transit sys ...
(NYSDOT) engineering director George Zaimes described the bridge's frame as being rusty, with some holes that were as large as a person's head. According to Zaimes, the upper roadway was only attached to the bridge "by its own weight and memory".


1970s and 1980s renovations

The state government started inspecting the Queensboro Bridge and five others in 1978, allocating $1.1 million for a study. That year, the city government also repainted the bridge in a brown and tan color scheme. To reduce congestion, a contraflow lane for express buses was installed at the Manhattan end of the bridge in 1979. That year, the lower deck's outer lanes were closed to vehicles; parts of the outer roadways had weakened to the point that they could barely carry the weight of a passenger car. Repairs to the outer lanes were expected to last for three years and cost $50 million. The southern outer roadway was converted into a pedestrian and bicycle path, which opened in July 1979. The city received $18.6 million in federal funds for the Queensboro Bridge's restoration in 1980. By then, an estimated 175,000 vehicles daily used the bridge. An extensive renovation commenced on February 25, 1981, and was completed in six phases. That December, the
United States Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the president of the United States a ...
gave $28.8 million for the bridge's renovation. The pedestrian and bike path closed in May 1983. The NYSDOT announced that July that the southern upper roadway, which carried eastbound traffic, would be closed for repairs, which were expected to take 18 months. The northern upper roadway, normally used by westbound traffic. was converted to eastbound-only operation, except during weekday mornings when it carried westbound traffic. The ramp leading from 57th and 58th streets to the southern upper roadway was temporarily closed for reconstruction in early 1984. By the beginning of 1985, the southern upper roadway had reopened after being rebuilt for $31 million. The outer lanes of the lower level had also reopened, but state officials estimated that the project would not be complete until 1992. The Queensboro Bridge's pedestrian path reopened in July 1985; the same year, the city received another $60 million in federal funds for the renovations of the Queensboro, Manhattan, and Brooklyn bridges. In February 1987, the
New York City Department of Transportation The New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) is the agency of the government of New York City responsible for the management of much of New York City's transportation infrastructure. Ydanis Rodriguez is the Commissioner of the Departm ...
(NYCDOT) announced that parts of the northern upper roadway would be closed for two years. As part of the $42 million project, a new concrete deck would be installed, and the steel structure would be restored. The ramps to 62nd and 63rd streets closed in October 1987 and reopened twelve months later. This closure coincided with the renovations of other East River bridges. The lower-level bike path was opened to vehicular traffic at peak times, and flatbed trucks carried bicycles across the bridge. The lower deck's southern outer roadway was closed for emergency repairs in 1988 after workers discovered severe corrosion. The reconstruction of the upper deck was completed in 1989 for $100 million. The bridge was still in poor condition: during a tour of the bridge in 1988, transportation engineer Sam Schwartz peeled off part of one of the bridge's beams with one hand.


1990s renovations

The
Metropolitan Transportation Authority The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a New York state public benefit corporations, public benefit corporation in New York (state), New York State responsible for public transportation in the New York metropolitan area, New York Ci ...
(MTA) proposed a rail link to LaGuardia and JFK airports in 1990; the line, which would have used the Queensboro Bridge, was canceled in 1995. A renovation of the Queensboro Bridge's lower level began in June 1990, when two Manhattan-bound lanes were closed. This phase of construction was supposed to cost $120 million. The lower deck's partial closure caused severe congestion in Queens, since part of the nearby
Long Island Expressway Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mens ...
was also closed for renovation. By 1993, the renovation was slated to be completed the next year. At that time, officials announced plans for a Manhattan-bound high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane on the bridge during morning rush hours. A Queens-bound HOV lane during the afternoon was deemed infeasible due to heavy congestion in Manhattan. The Manhattan-bound HOV lane opened in April 1994, and all lower-level lanes had reopened by that October. The NYCDOT announced in 1995 that it would spend another $161 million to renovate the outer lower-level roadways starting the following year. Two lanes were again closed for maintenance from April to September 1996, causing severe congestion. Following complaints from residents near 57th Street, starting in October 1996, traffic on the upper level traveled on the left during rush hours to reduce
noise pollution Noise pollution, or sound pollution, is the propagation of noise or sound with potential harmful effects on humans and animals. The source of outdoor noise worldwide is mainly caused by machines, transport and propagation systems.Senate Publi ...
and traffic congestion. Vehicles headed for Queens had to enter at 62nd and 63rd Streets, which caused widespread confusion. After protests from Upper East Side residents, the original right-hand traffic pattern was reinstated on the upper level, and the southern lower roadway (used by pedestrians) was converted to an eastbound vehicular lane during the afternoon rush hour. Some pedestrians and bikers opposed the conversion of the southern lower roadway, as they would have to wait for a van to take them across the bridge during weekday afternoons, but the new traffic pattern was implemented anyway. In the late 1990s, the NYCDOT hired architect Walter Melvin to renovate the vaults under the Manhattan approach. During the renovation of the main span, a scaffold collapsed in 1997, killing a worker. The renovation of the northern lower roadway was completed in mid-1998. That August, the NYCDOT implemented a new traffic pattern during evening rush hours, where the northern upper roadway carried eastbound traffic, giving the bridge six eastbound and three westbound lanes during that time. The northern lower roadway, which carried pedestrians and cyclists during mornings and off-peak hours, was converted into a westbound lane during the evening rush hour. The NYCDOT's commissioner called the changes an "interim fix for nine to 14 months". By then, about 184,000 vehicles used the bridge daily, with slightly more eastbound than westbound vehicles using the bridge.


2000s to present

Following the completion of additional renovations in September 2000, the northern upper roadway was converted back to a westbound road at all times. The northern lower roadway was converted into a bike and pedestrian path, while the southern lower roadway became an eastbound lane. After the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
on the World Trade Center in 2001, drivers without passengers were temporarily banned from using the bridge during rush hours. The city announced plans in 2002 to restore six masonry piers supporting the bridge. The same year, mayor
Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman and politician. He is the majority owner and co-founder of Bloomberg L.P., and was its CEO from 1981 to 2001 and again from 2014 to 2023. He served as the 108th mayo ...
again proposed tolling the four free East River bridges, including the Queensboro Bridge; many local residents opposed his plan, and Bloomberg postponed the tolling plan in 2003. As part of a $168 million project that began in 2004, workers repainted the bridge. They also added fences and lighting, restored a trolley kiosk on the Manhattan end of the bridge, and restored the Manhattan approach in a separate project between 2003 and 2006. The renovation was temporarily halted in October 2005 after a small fire. A group of Roosevelt Island residents requested in 2007 that the city government install an elevator or stairway from the bridge, but city officials expressed multiple concerns with the proposal, including security vulnerabilities, the need to close a lane of traffic, and the bridge's landmark designation. In March 2009, the New York City Bridge Centennial Commission sponsored events marking the
centennial A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century. Notable events Notable centennial events at a national or world-level include: * Centennial Exhibition, 1876, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...
of the bridge's opening. The
American Society of Civil Engineers The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is a tax-exempt professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, it is the oldest national engineering soci ...
designated the bridge as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark the same year. The bridge was renamed after
Ed Koch Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989. Koch was a lifelong Democrat who ...
in 2011. After a series of fatal crashes in 2013, officials closed the southern lower roadway at night. By the middle of the decade, the bridge carried 175,000 daily vehicles, making it the East River's busiest bridge. Mayor
Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who was the List of mayors of New York City, 109th mayor of New York City, mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of t ...
announced plans in April 2016 to allocate $244 million for repairs to the Queensboro Bridge's upper deck. Concurrently, elected officials proposed adding tolls to the bridge yet again. In January 2021, the city decided to install a two-way protected bike path on the northern lower roadway and convert the southern lower roadway to a pedestrian path. The conversion was delayed because of a renovation of the upper deck, which commenced in February 2022 and required the partial closure of vehicular lanes. The city presented designs for the pedestrian and bike paths in mid-2024. The paths were supposed to open in March 2025, but the opening was postponed by mayor
Eric Adams Eric Leroy Adams (born September 1, 1960) is an American politician and former police officer who has served as the 110th mayor of New York City since 2022. Adams was an officer in the New York City Transit Police and then the New York City P ...
, ultimately occurring that May.


Public transportation


Rail service


Rapid transit

The bridge, built with two elevated railway tracks on its upper level, had space for two more tracks. A connection from the
Interborough Rapid Transit Company The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) was the private operator of New York City's original underground subway line that opened in 1904, as well as earlier elevated railways and additional rapid transit lines in New York City. The IRT ...
's Second Avenue Elevated to the bridge was first proposed in 1910; early plans called for a line extending to
Malba The Latin American Art Museum of Buenos Aires (, mostly known for its acronym MALBA) is an art museum located on Figueroa Alcorta Avenue, in the Palermo, Buenos Aires, Palermo section of Buenos Aires. History Created by Argentina, Argentine busin ...
. The elevated tracks were approved in 1913, and the connection opened in 1917, allowing Second Avenue trains to access the Astoria and Flushing lines. The tracks carried elevated trains until service was discontinued in 1942. There were also plans to run a
New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system in New York City serving the New York City boroughs, boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. It is owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Tr ...
line across the bridge in September 1909; in a report submitted to the New York City Board of Estimate in June 1911, the
Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) was a public transit holding company formed in 1896 to acquire and consolidate railway lines in Brooklyn and Queens, New York City, United States. It was a prominent corporation and industry leader using ...
was to extend its Broadway Line onto the bridge. By December 1914, the Board of Estimate had abandoned the proposal, which would have required $2.6 million in modifications to the bridge and would have caused serious congestion. Instead, the board proposed the double-tracked 60th Street Tunnel under the East River, which would allow the city to save $500,000. The New York Public Service Commission approved the tunnel in July 1915. In 1990, the MTA proposed an
airport rail link An airport rail link is a service providing passenger rail transport between an airport and a nearby city. Direct links operate straight from the airport terminal to the city, while other links require an intermediate use of a people mover or ...
running via the bridge to JFK and LaGuardia airports. This plan was scaled down in 1995, becoming the
AirTrain JFK AirTrain JFK is an elevated people mover system and airport rail link serving John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK Airport) in New York City. The driverless train, driverless system operates 24/7 service, 24/7 and consists of three lin ...
, which serves a small part of Queens.


Streetcars

The bridge had
streetcar A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...
tracks occupying the northern and southern lower roadways. On the Manhattan side, there were two ramps from each of the outer lower-level roadways to a set of platforms under Second Avenue. On the Queens side, the tracks split into multiple branches. Six streetcar companies had applied for franchises to use the bridge by late 1908, before its official opening. The first trolleys traveled on the bridge in September 1909, and passenger service began the next month.; In the bridge's first decade, the tracks were used by the New York and Queens County Railway, Manhattan and Queens Traction Company, Steinway Lines, and Third Avenue Bridge Company. When the Third Avenue Railway started using the bridge in 1913, it built power infrastructure under the roadway, as its streetcars received power from underground. The South Shore Traction Company also applied for permission to use the bridge but was denied. A streetcar stop was constructed at the middle of the bridge in 1919 to serve the elevator to Roosevelt Island. The tracks connecting the Third Avenue Railway with the Queensboro Bridge were removed in 1922, after the company stopped using the bridge. Although almost all streetcar service had been withdrawn by 1939, the Queensboro Bridge Local route ran across the bridge until April 7, 1957; it was the last trolley route in New York state. On the Manhattan end of the Queensboro Bridge were originally five trolley kiosks, which contained stairs leading to a trolley terminal underground. Lindenthal and Hornbostel designed the structures, which had terracotta-paneled facades, cast-iron columns, and a copper roof with cast-iron fascias. There were arched, glazed-tile ceilings inside each of the kiosks. The kiosks also had Greek key motifs; shields with garlands; and ornamental
brackets A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. They come in four main pairs of shapes, as given in the box to the right, which also gives their n ...
. The locations of three kiosks are unknown. Another kiosk was sent to the
Brooklyn Children's Museum The Brooklyn Children's Museum is a children's museum in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City. Founded in 1899, it is the first children's museum in the United States – and according to some, the first one worldwide. It ...
in 1974, then was relocated to Roosevelt Island and renovated into a visitor center. The Roosevelt Island kiosk, which reopened in July 2007, measures across and weighs . Yet another kiosk remains in place in Manhattan but is used as storage space. The remaining kiosk in Manhattan was planned to be removed in 2002 but was instead restored.


Buses

The bridge carries three local bus routes operated by
MTA Regional Bus Operations MTA Regional Bus Operations (RBO) is the Public transport bus service, bus operations division of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York City. The MTA operates local, limited-stop, express, and Select Bus Service (bus rapid transit ...
: the , and . The bridge also carries 20 express bus routes in the eastbound direction only: the , and , which all use the Queens-Midtown Tunnel for westbound travel.


Elevator to Roosevelt Island

An elevator from the bridge to Roosevelt Island (then known as Blackwell's Island) was proposed in October 1912. Although various groups opposed an elevator in the middle of the bridge's deck because it would block traffic, an elevator next to the deck was tested the next month. The Board of Estimate provided $366,000 in 1916 for an elevator building connecting the bridge to Roosevelt Island. The building, on the bridge's north side, was finished in 1918 or 1919. The building was nine or ten stories tall and had two passenger and three freight elevators. The structure was set back from the bridge to reduce damage in a fire. The top floor was connected to the bridge by a roadway measuring wide; there was also a stair and a guard's booth. The other nine floors contained various food storage rooms. After the trolley lines across the bridge were largely replaced by buses in the 1930s, Steinway Transit retained one of the bridge's trolley tracks and established the Queensboro Bridge Railway, a shuttle streetcar route connecting with the elevator to Roosevelt Island. The elevator was demolished in 1970, having been replaced by the Roosevelt Island Bridge. A separate passenger elevator ran during weekdays to Welfare Island, via a storehouse described as "clean but gloomy", until mid-1973.


Tolls

There was originally a ten-cent toll to drive over the bridge, although pedestrians walked across for free. Shortly after the Queensboro Bridge opened, the city government conducted a study and found that it had no authority to charge tolls on the Queensboro and
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
bridges. Tolls on the Queensboro Bridge, as well as the Williamsburg, Manhattan, and Brooklyn bridges to the south, were abolished in July 1911 as part of a populist policy initiative headed by New York City mayor William Jay Gaynor.; There were also proposals to charge tolls on the bridge in the 1930s, which were heavily opposed by local groups, and in the 1950s, which was rejected as overly expensive. In 1970, the federal government enacted the Clean Air Act, a series of federal air pollution regulations. As part of a plan by mayor
John Lindsay John Vliet Lindsay (; November 24, 1921 – December 19, 2000) was an American politician and lawyer. During his political career, Lindsay was a U.S. congressman, the mayor of New York City, and a candidate for U.S. president. He was also a regu ...
and the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the city government considered implementing tolls on the four East River bridges, including the Queensboro, in the early 1970s. The plan would have raised money for New York City's transit system and allowed the city to meet the Clean Air Act. While there were concerns that the bridge's city-landmark designation could prevent tollbooths from being installed, planners said the tollbooths could just be installed on the bridge's approaches. Specifically, a tollbooth would have been installed on the bridge's Manhattan approach. Queens borough president Donald Manes encouraged the state government to take over the bridge so tolls could not be charged; according to Manes, the tolls would merely increase pollution around Queens Plaza. Abraham Beame, who became mayor in 1974, refused to implement the tolls, and the U.S. Congress subsequently moved to forbid tolls on the East River bridges. A plan for
congestion pricing in New York City Congestion pricing in New York City, also known as the Central Business District Tolling Program or CBDTP, began on January 5, 2025. It applies to most motor vehicular traffic using the central business district area of Manhattan south of 6 ...
was approved in mid-2023, allowing the MTA to toll drivers who use the Queensboro Bridge and then travel south of 60th Street. Congestion pricing was implemented in January 2025;; Drivers on the northern upper roadway are exempt from the toll, but all other Manhattan-bound drivers pay a toll, which varies based on the time of day. Although no toll is charged upon exiting the congestion zone, all Queens-bound drivers must pay a toll to access streets leading to the bridge, even if they drive only one or two blocks within the congestion zone.


Impact


Reception

When plans for the bridge were being finalized in 1901, there was commentary on its cantilevered design; all of the other bridges across the East River at the time were suspension bridges. The city's bridge commissioner at the time, John L. Shea, said that the Queensboro Bridge would not be as "picturesque" compared to a suspension bridge but that it could look as attractive as either the Williamsburg or Brooklyn bridges. Buck said that the U.S. had some "homely" cantilever bridges but hoped the Queensboro Bridge was not ugly. The chief engineer of the city's Bridge Department said in 1904 that he believed the cantilever design was "a mistake" and that a suspension bridge on the same site, supported by three towers, would have been a novelty. When the bridge was finished in 1908, ''
The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles both in Electronic publishing, electronic format and a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 ...
'' wrote that the Queensboro was "one of the greatest bridges in the world, and one of the most beautiful of its type", despite having received relatively little media attention during construction. Two decades after the bridge opened, ''The New York Times'' said the "Brooklyn Bridge has the reputation but Queensboro Bridge has the traffic". The ''New York Daily News'' wrote in 1981 that the Queensboro Bridge "reminds people of the bridges they built with erector sets as children". Nonetheless, the bridge was not as widely appreciated as the Brooklyn Bridge further south, especially in the late 20th century, and ''The Los Angeles Times'' wrote in 2010 that "the Queensboro appears far grittier than the romantic Brooklyn Bridge or the soaring Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to the south".


Impact on development

The ''New-York Tribune'' wrote in 1904 that the Queensboro Bridge's construction would cause Blackwell's Island to "lose at least a share of its sinister reputation". Even before the bridge was completed, real-estate values in Queens had been increasing several times over, and its construction also spurred the sale of property along 59th Street in Manhattan. Its development allowed various parts of Queens to be served by direct train and streetcar lines to Manhattan. The ''Brooklyn Daily Eagle'' predicted in 1908 that the bridge's completion would draw investors toward Long Island and away from
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
to the west. The same newspaper predicted that the bridge, along with the Steinway Tunnel and East River Tunnels, would change Long Island from a sparsely populated rural outpost to a densely packed suburb of New York City. A ''New York Times'' article from 1923 wrote that the bridge's opening "marked the first step in eliminating the East River as a barrier to the spread of population eastward". The opening of the bridge encouraged development of vacant land in Queens, where tracts were resold for residential and commercial use. Many industrial firms began operating in western Queens, including vehicle-manufacturing plants in Long Island City. By the early 1910s, numerous industrial structures and loft buildings had been built around the bridge's Queens end, particularly on Queens Plaza. Further east, neighborhoods such as Jackson Heights were built on former farmland. The Queensboro Chamber of Commerce's spokesperson said in 1924 that real estate values in Queens had tripled within 15 years of the bridge's opening, while the population grew from 284,000 to 736,000. At the bridge's 50th anniversary, ''The New York Times'' credited the bridge with encouraging industrial and residential development in Queens. ''Newsday'' wrote in the 1990s: "More than any other development, the Queensboro Bridge created the modern urban borough of Queens." The completion of the Queensboro Bridge inspired what became Queens Boulevard, although the thoroughfare was not finished until 1936.


Media

Because of its design and location, the Queensboro Bridge has appeared in numerous media works, including films and TV shows, set in New York City. For example, the title of
Simon & Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo comprising the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music acts of the 1960s. Their most famous recordings include three US number-one sing ...
's 1966 song "
The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)" is a song by folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, written by Paul Simon and originally released on their 1966 album ''Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme''. ''Cash Box'' called it a "sparkling, spirited li ...
" refers to the Queensboro Bridge, and it has been mentioned in media such as F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel ''
The Great Gatsby ''The Great Gatsby'' () is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with Jay Gatsby, a mysterious mi ...
''. The bridge has been the setting or filming location for several movies, such as ''
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
'' (1979), ''
Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...
'' (2002) and ''
The Dark Knight Rises ''The Dark Knight Rises'' is a 2012 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Jonathan Nolan, and the story with David S. Goyer. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the final instal ...
'' (2012).


See also

*
List of bridges and tunnels in New York City New York City is home to many bridges and tunnels. Several agencies manage this network of crossings. The New York City Department of Transportation owns and operates almost 800. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Port Authority of New ...
* List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in New York * List of bridges and tunnels on the National Register of Historic Places in New York * List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan from 59th to 110th Streets * List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Queens *
National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan from 59th to 110th Streets This is intended to be a complete list of properties and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal gov ...
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Queens, New York List of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Queens, New York This is intended to be a complete list of properties and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Queens, New York. The locations of Natio ...


References


Notes

Explanatory notes Inflation figures


Citations


Sources

* * * * * *


External links


NYCDOT.gov
* * {{Authority control 1908 establishments in New York City Bike paths in New York City Bridges completed in 1909 Bridges in Manhattan Bridges in Queens, New York Bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in New York City Bridges over the East River Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan Cantilever bridges in the United States Double-decker bridges Henry Hornbostel buildings Historic American Engineering Record in New York City Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks Long Island City National Register of Historic Places in Queens, New York New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan New York City Designated Landmarks in Queens, New York Pedestrian bridges in New York City Railroad bridges in New York City Railroad bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in New York City Road bridges in New York City Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in New York City Roads with a reversible lane Roosevelt Island Steel bridges in the United States New York State Register of Historic Places in New York County New York State Register of Historic Places in Queens County