Mahalo travel expert Asha K. tells you what you need to know before going to visit the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City.
Overview
Connecting the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn across the East River since May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. It spans 1,594 feet and it was the longest bridge of its kind in the world until 1903. The Brooklyn Bridge was originally called the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, as well as the East River Bridge; it wasn't formally named the Brooklyn Bridge until 1915. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964, followed by its distinction as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1972.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXby3Rq7b9Q
Location
Construction
The Brooklyn Bridge took 13 years to construct due to political squabbles and cost $18 million. German immigrant John Roebling was the reason the bridge was built after his ferry got stick in the ice of the East River one winter. The construction of the bridge consisted of a mesh of cables that anchor the structure to the ground. There are two large masonry towers with gothic arches on each side of the bridge to which the cables are also attached. The towers are each 276 feet in height.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXby3Rq7b9Q
Over 20 deaths occurred over the course of its construction. Plaques on each archway on either side of the bridge contain historical tidbits about the bridge for curious visitors to read.http://www.aviewoncities.com/nyc/brooklynbridge.htm
Access and Tours
Access to the bridge is available at the South Street Seaport if you're coming from Manhattan; coming from Brooklyn you can access the bridge from Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park. Tourists can take a mile-long stroll along the bridge as cars whiz by on your side. You can also take the Big Onion Walking Tour across the bridge and into Brooklyn Heights.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXby3Rq7b9Q
The Big Onion Walking Tour is $15 for adults and $12 for seniors over 63, active military and students. You'll cross the Brooklyn Bridge and be told the story of its construction; continuing on through the Heights, you'll see abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher's Plymouth Church, 19th Century architecture and sites associated with Walt Whitman, Truman Capote and Arthur Miller, among other sites. The tour meets at the southeast corner of Broadway and Chambers Streets at City Hall Park. For more information, email info@bigonion.com or call (888) 606-WALK.http://www.bigonion.com/description/index.html
References
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Meet Our Experts
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Asha K.
After completing a bachelor's degree in film and media from Griffith University in Australia, Asha K., Mahalo's travel expert, began traveling the world. Her work for the Discovery Channel, Fashion TV, MTV and Fox eventually brought her to Los Angeles. Aside from her travel series, Asha K. also produces and writes her own weekly webisode, "This Week in Music."
Did You Know?
There were 150,300 people who crossed the Brooklyn Bridge on its opening day, along with 1,800 vehicles that were each charged five cents to cross.
P.T. Barnum led a caravan of circus animals, including 21 elephants, across the bridge in 1884 to prove its strength and safety.http://www.endex.com/gf/buildings/bbridge/bbridgefacts.htm http://www.aviewoncities.com/nyc/brooklynbridge.htm
