By: Barnali Bose, Editor-ICN Group
Brooklyn Bound :
Brooklyn is named after a Dutch town called “Breukelen”. From Europe,the Dutch were the first to migrate to the area. They settled in the town in 1634 as part of the colony of New Netherland.
During the 19th century, Brooklyn expanded and filled Kings County. It remained a separate city till the people there voted to join New York City in 1898.
A visit to New York is said to be incomplete without the experience of a stroll on the Brooklyn Bridge and rightly so as I was to discover for myself.
An evening stroll on The Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge looms majestically over New York City’s East River, linking the two boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Since 1883, its granite towers and steel cables have offered a safe and scenic passage to millions of commuters and tourists, trains and bicycles, pushcarts and cars.
It stretches for a length of about 1.8 km. The bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States.
The Brooklyn Bridge has proven itself as one of New York’s most recognizable, and photogenic landmarks. At least as far as Hollywood is concerned, the iconic bridge has enjoyed cameos in dozens of movies over the years. A few that come to my mind are Manhattan, Spiderman, Godzilla, The French Connection and Enchanted.
Even in Bollywood films, whenever New York has been a viable location , scenes have been picturized on Brooklyn Bridge. The picturesque scenes of Ta Ra Rum Pum and Kal Ho Na Ho shot years back on the bridge have lingered on in my memory for years.
As we walked over from Manhattan to the point where the iconic Brooklyn Bridge stands tall as if beckoning one and all, I was drawn to it by its magnetic pull. When that day, for the first time ever, I tread on the majestic bridge, it was an exhilarating feeling, a feeling that was inexplicably special.
A walk along the Pedestrian walkway on the Brooklyn Bridge is a walk like none other. The view from the Brooklyn side is more enthralling as the Manhattan skyline forms the backdrop.
The two masonry towers to which the many cables are attached are like two mighty sentinels guarding the bridge.
However if you are walking from Manhattan to Brooklyn, just remember to linger and look back, which is easy to do from the Neo-Gothic bridge towers.
We paused every now and then, as did most other pedestrians to capture scenes on camera to carry home, a slice of the magnificent structure. We clicked shots with ourselves in the foreground of the colossal structure.
The elevated pedestrian path gave us the opportunity to cross the river without being bothered by the traffic that was rushing past, a level below. One can look through the gaps of the wooden walkways and view the motorway below.
However there was quite a rush on the bridge and as such we had to be careful not to tread on the bicycle lane that ran parallel to the pedestrian pathway.
That the bridge is not only an engineering marvel but aesthetically pleasing too is an indisputable fact.
When we reached the farthest point of the bridge in Brooklyn, we walked down to the Brooklyn Bridge Park and rested for awhile.
The reddish golden hues of the setting sun lingered on the Brooklyn bridge before splashing its palette of colours on the New York skyline.
I stood and glanced in awe at one man-made colossal wonder in the foreground of the other. I wondered whether one did not intimidate the other.
The Story Behind The Construction
Brooklyn Bridge was designed by John Augustus Roebling. Just before construction began in 1869, Roebling was fatally injured while taking a few final compass readings across the East River.
A boat smashed the toes on one of his feet, and three weeks later he died of tetanus. His 32-year-old son, Washington A. Roebling, took over as chief engineer.
Unfortunately, more than 100 workers suffered from what was called ” caisson disease “, including Washington Roebling himself. He remained partially paralyzed for the rest of his life.
He was forced to watch with a telescope while his wife Emily took charge of the bridge’s construction.
The bridge’s construction took 14 years to be completed, involved 600 workers and cost $15 million (more than $320 million in today’s dollars).
The Bridge- An Engineering Marvel Unveiled
Huge crowds gathered on May 24, 1883, to watch the Brooklyn Bridge’s opening ceremony, which The New York Times described as “the greatest gala day in the history of that moral suburb.”
President Chester A. Arthur, New York Governor (and future president) Grover Cleveland and various local politicians marched onto the bridge, accompanied by a military band and an attachment of troops.
Besides a cannon being fired, the festivities included an hour-long fireworks display, receptions and a number of speeches.
Just before midnight,the bridge opened to the public, and more than 150,000 people streamed across over the next 24 hours.
However, many Irish people boycotted the ceremony because it coincided with the birthday of British monarch Queen Victoria.
On Memorial Day, just after a week of it being open to public,an estimated 20,000 people were on the bridge when suddenly, the crowd went berserk.
Later it was known that a rumour that it was about to collapse had triggered the panic. In the resultant stampede, twelve people died and many were badly injured.
An interesting fact is that on May 17, 1884, circus entertainer, P.T Barnum marched 21 elephants over the Brooklyn Bridge to prove that it was stable. Since then, the bridge has been a colossal monument of unwavering tourist interest and a daily commute for the locals.
