Brooklyn Bridge and Park, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

 

On my last visit, I missed seeing the 85-acre Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn with a nice view of lower Manhattan and next to the iconic namesake bridge. I also missed walking the bridge on a weekend day so, off I went again to have both of these experiences.



A nice day for a sail on the East River. Lower Manhattan in the background.



Though it is kind of hot outside today, 90-ish, some folks opt for a picnic on the grass in the Brooklyn Plaza Park.



A walk through the nearby neighborhood adjacent to the bridge. And yes, this is very expensive real estate.



As I turned to walk up the stairs onto the bridge, this was my view to the north - it's part of the Manhattan Bridge in the distance.



There were lots of people on the bridge even in the 90+ degree weather. Mid-river span there was a respite with a wonderful cooling breeze blowing off the water from the south. Lower Manhattan is in the distance at left. On this wooden slatted path, bicycles have the right side and pedestrians have the left side of the white line. Of course, that means there could be four streams at any given time, two in each direction. It can get a bit tight sometimes.



I made the mistake of stopping mid-path for a photo (though I was on the pedestrian side of the line).  I was immediately screamed at by an irate local New York accented woman, "HEY YOU, DON'T STOP THERE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PATH, WHAT ARE YOU, STUPID?  PEOPLE GET RUN OVER BY BICYCLES AND KILLED DOING THAT AND YOU'RE BLOCKING THE PATH FOR OTHERS." I moved over and didn't argue, polite and clueless tourist that I apparently am. As you can see, I stayed at the side to capture this image above.



It being a summer-like weekend day, there were gazillions of walkers, joggers, bicyclers, scooters, vendors - masses of humanity enjoying one of the great wonders of New York City - walking the Brooklyn Bridge. It's been open here since 1883. I don't think I'd visit the city without planning to make this walk. What a delight! 

The Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

I took another trip to visit the Brooklyn Bridge. It's one of those places that I doubt I could visit too many times. It is such a delight to walk across, turn around, and walk back across. There is an endless but unhurried pace to it all regardless whether on foot or bicycle.



Of course, the honking, impatient cars on the lower deck are another story. I have noticed that in general, New York city drivers are quick to honk at the slightest provocation or imagined sleight.

Here's a gritty black and white manipulation of the scene. The bridge opened in May of 1883 - after years of construction beginning in 1869 - imagine that - back in the day when mechanical assists were few - it was the brute strength of thousands of men and the ingenuity of engineers to conceive, design, and execute such an unheard of structure.

While not up to pre-pandemic levels, tourism is slowly making a comeback - the warming spring weather helps.

Near the beginning of the bridge on the Manhattan side, this municipal building towers above - to me it seemed very old world European in design style.

The Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

I have always been struck by the iconic views I have seen of the Brooklyn Bridge and I was not disappointed to experience it first-hand on this moody, cloudy day. If fact, it made for a fitting black and white photo treatment. I started on the Manhattan side, walked across to Brooklyn, and then walked back to Manhattan.



These first two views are looking east towards Brooklyn. In the center of the right-of-way, pedestrians and bicycles are hosted, and below and to the left and right are three lanes of vehicle traffic coming into or leaving Manhattan. The center slat decking is wood and feels good underfoot.



This view is on the way back to Manhattan from Brooklyn, the World Trade Center is visible to the left with the tall spire.



The bridge was built in 1875, and there is always maintenance work to be done as the construction scaffold to the left of the arch demonstrates. Chatting up a worker, he said that before the scaffold was constructed, they had to climb up the support cables just like you'd imagine, foot over foot and hand over hand.



There were many folks of my generation out enjoying the walk. And a few younger folks mostly pushing strollers, too.



The big oval mouse ears on the cables prevent unauthorized access to the superstructure for trouble-makers, partiers, or jumpers.

Like much of Manhattan, bikes and pedestrians are shown a surprising amount of respect and priority. What a place - New York, New York.