The Brooklyn Bridge

When you think of Brooklyn, you have to think of the Brooklyn Bridge! That immense, powerful, expansive bridge not only connects one borough to another, but tells the history of New York City with one of the most amazing stories of its construction. A bridge this big being built in the late 1800’s is incredible. Back then, construction workers didn’t have much more than their bare hands to move rocks, scrape out dirt, reach the bedrock, and lay the foundations for the Brooklyn Bridge. We’ll give you some cool facts. At least 27 people died during construction, including the original architect for the bridge, John Roebling. While preparing the site for the bridge, had his foot crushed by a ferry that came too close for comfort, and died about a month after the accident. You can read all about the history of the Brooklyn Bridge and the measures they used to finish it, but just know that it has the cheery nickname of “The Bridge of Death”.

But enough about all that! In spite of its impressive death toll, this bridge is otherwise amazing! The Brooklyn Bridge was finished on May 24, 1883 (consequently the birthday of one of these bloggers…) and connected the cities of Manhattan and Brooklyn for the first time in history. It was the first bridge to use steel cable suspension, and at the time was also the longest suspension bridge in the world. Because of its amazing architecture and design, it was recognized as the “Eighth Wonder of the World”!

Today, this bridge helps hundreds of thousands of people cross to and from Manhattan and Brooklyn, and is an integral part of society. As of 2014, it was documented that more than 120,000 vehicles, 4,000 pedestrians and 3,100 bicyclists cross the Brooklyn Bridge every day. We were lucky to be some of those thousands of daily pedestrians just a few days ago, and got to experience that beauty first hand. The sky was clear, it wasn’t too hot, and we got to appreciate the sound of cars below us as we journeyed along this beautiful suspension bridge. It was nothing short of amazing! Walking with individuals from all over the world, hearing different languages, wearing different clothing, with the only commonality among us being our selfie sticks, was something we won’t soon forget about this pilgrimage from Manhattan to Mecca (or Brooklyn, whatever you want to call it). The bridge appears in famous photos, movies, and is even the subject of an occasional prank.

We could recommend walking across the bridge in the evening around sunset. There aren’t so many crowds and you get a spectacular view of the city both in the day and at night, just be sure to look out and listen for cyclists speeding down the wood slats!

Once you’ve made it across the bridge you must walk down to the park that runs underneath it for a killer view and food!