When you grow up in New York City, specifically in Brooklyn, a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge is kind of a rite of passage. At some point in time, you end up doing it. And for many Brooklynites, it’s actually a commonly used way to get from Brooklyn Heights to City Hall in downtown Manhattan, and beyond.
On a recent visit to NYC, on a gorgeous fall day where the temperature hovered around fifty, and the sun’s rays forced themselves through silver and white clouds to form a glorious tapestry of colors, I found myself in Dumbo, and decided to do the familiar and breathtaking walk. But after stumbling across that iconic slice of the Manhattan Bridge sandwiched between those two red brick buildings at the very end of Washington Street, I immediately had a change of mind. The bridge is stunning to look at, and the sun was hitting the blue steel in such a way, the entire structure seemed to glisten. Plus, I’m a New Yorker, so why had I never done a Manhattan Bridge Walk before? Why had I ignored it in favor of the more celebrated Brooklyn Bridge? The excitement at the thought of experiencing something new began to build. Bring on the adventure!
But the adventure hit a quick speed bump. Let’s just say that my realization of why the Manhattan Bridge walk isn’t as publicized, despite the beauty of the bridge, became immediately apparent. You pick up the pedestrian entrance on Sands Street near Jay Street, which is only about a block away from one of the Brooklyn Bridge entrances. But whereas there is a multitude of signage for the Brooklyn Bridge–the Manhattan Bridge–not so much. The walkway for the Brooklyn Bridge is at the upper level, over the traffic lanes. For those faint of heart, no fear need be had. You find yourself traversing a wide lane made of wooden planks, in the very center of the bridge, far from the edges that give view to the East River directly below. There are pretty wooden benches with wrought iron legs and armrests throughout, just in case you need a pause. The Brooklyn Bridge was the first of the three suspension bridges built to connect Brooklyn with lower Manhattan (Manhattan and Williamsburg being the other two), and it was obviously designed with pedestrians in mind, since the only way to traverse it when it opened in 1883 was by horse-drawn carriage or by foot.
The pedestrian walkway for the Manhattan Bridge, which was completed in 1910, a year after the bridge opened, spans the southern edge of the bridge. And when I say edge, I mean it. All that’s between you and the East River 30 stories below, is a not-the-most-esthetic-looking chain link fence. And abutting the northern side of the walkway–again, with the aid of the utilitarian chain link fence–are tracks for the four train lines that run across the bridge: the Q, N, B and D, that seem to thunder and rattle past every two or so minutes. No wooden planks to absorb any shock over here. The walkway is straight up concrete. But as solid as that substance is, it isn’t nearly dense enough to stop the intense swaying and reverberations each time a train approaches. Did I mention that a train approaches every two or so minutes–which means perpetual motion?! Though the bridge has been around for 113 years, I found myself wondering if this was the day everything, including me, would to go tumbling the 336 feet down. I found myself glancing to my left, to the river below and beyond the chain-link. This was the moment I realized just how high 336 feet was. It was no better looking to my right, as I was greeted by a giant silver tube shooting out of a darkened tunnel, smacking me with the force of the wind it harnessed. And when that finally moved off the bridge, I was left with the darkness of the tunnel and the river water you can see down to through the gaps in the tracks. I also became aware of how few people walked along this bridge, as compared to its majestic counterpart a bit south. During my 40 minute journey, I counted maybe 8 other brave (aka stupid) souls. There’s a bit of graffiti interspersed to liven things up even more–some actually pretty cool, but not enough to prevent me from thinking that in an apocalypse, this would surely be the place that I would be overtaken by the zombies.
For all that, once I stilled my heart and poked an eyeball through one of the links in the fence, I realized that the view from the Manhattan Bridge is actually superior to that of the Brooklyn Bridge. Whereas the latter kind of cuts the iconic skyline of lower Manhattan in two, from the former, there is an uninterrupted view, outlined by the majesty of said Brooklyn Bridge.
Once I reached the end of the bridge on Canal Street at the edge of China Town, and was again on terra firma, I was able to reflect on my 1.3 mile journey. Absolutely stunning views, a bit of grit, glad I was able to check that one off my list, but the next time I go cross the Manhattan Bridge, it will most definitely be by train.
