In April, a Volkswagen Jetta careened off the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge and crashed into Queens storefronts. Passenger Beatriz Rodriguez died from her injuries while driver Alexander Palacio's arm was amputated. Now Palacio, who was charged with unlicensed driving, is suing the city. more ›

This weekend, The Dark Knight Rises continued its filmic assault on NYC by taking over the upper span of the 59th Street Bridge. Not everyone was thrilled to have Batman and Bane battling in their backyard though—the filming caused massive traffic jams today. “Right now I don’t want to watch that movie,” one driver complained to CBS. “It’s getting outrageous here in New York. All their filming, all this ridiculous filming and we aren’t getting anything for it,” another driver said. more ›

An electronic sign at the entrance to the Queensboro Bridge...oh, okay, Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge in Queens serves two purposes: to notify motorists that bridge washing begins on Monday (FINALLY!) and to cheer on Ron Paul's 2012 presidential campaign. The tipster who took these photos last night, Zachary Leven, tells us he finds it "highly ironic, as Ron Paul would undoubtedly disapprove of a tax-payer funded civic improvement project such as bridge washing." more ›

Despite its new speed limit signs, it appears the poorly designed off-ramp traffic flow on the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge has caused yet another accident. The Post reports that "around 5:30 a.m, a 2007 Volkswagon Golf lost control as it went down the outer ramp into Queens," before hitting scaffolding and finally landing onto a parked livery car. Luckily, the driver only received "minor injuries," while the passenger and livery car driver were unscathed. more ›

In the past two weeks, two different cars flew off a newly-renovated ramp off the lower exit of the renamed Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge (ugh), crashing into the same group of storefronts. One pedestrian and one passenger have died from injuries sustained during the crashes, and now locals and politicians are blaming the DOT's changes to traffic patterns. State Senator Mike Gianaris told the Daily News, "Queens motorists, residents and small-business owners should not have to endure errant, projectile vehicles being launched at them on a weekly basis due to the dangerous design of an off-ramp." more ›

Early yesterday morning, a car careened off an Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge ramp and into a Long Island City building, resulting in injuries for the driver and passenger. This was the second accident off the ramp in nine days—and the car hit the same store, a beauty salon. Business owners declared the recently-renovated ramp a "death trap" as cops arrested the driver for aggravated unlicensed driving. more ›

A week after a car careened off the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge and barreled into a strip of Long Island City stores, it's happened again this morning. The car careened off the bridge into the same group of stores. The crash occurred around 4:30 a.m. and MyFoxNY reports, "The driver of a 2006 Volkswagen Jetta driving Queens-bound on the lower level of the Queensboro Bridge lost control and crashed into a building at Crescent Street and Queens Plaza." more ›

A 68-year-old man standing on a sidewalk in Long Island City was killed when a car from the Ed Koch Queensboro bridge flew towards him. According to WABC 7, "Police say the driver of the car lost control, flipping onto the sidewalk on Queens Plaza South at Crescent Street just after 4 a.m. Monday." The driver, who was taken to Bellevue, lost his arm; a man who saw the scene and called 911 told the Daily News, "It was a horror movie - pools of blood running onto the street." more ›

We've heard from a lot of people about the possibility of renaming the Queensboro Bridge after former Mayor Ed Koch. And now Koch himself is chiming in again. When asked what he thought of the plan, he told the Daily News, "The City Council will decide the issue. I am hopeful the outcome will be positive, G-d willing." However, Vallone suggested that the city instead renamed Gracie Mansion for the former mayor. He did actually live there! more ›

Some bridges don't get no respect. No mayor in his right mind would ever dream of naming the Brooklyn Bridge after a former politician, but when it comes to bridges with modern, ugly metalwork it's all RFK and... Ed Koch? The Bloomberg administration will reportedly announce plans today to rename the Queensboro bridge the Edward I. Koch bridge, and to rename the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel after former Governor Hugh L. Carey. more ›

Cyclist Joel Custer is recovering at Cornell Hospital after he was attacked by a half-naked elderly man while biking over the Queensboro bridge yesterday morning. He lost a few teeth and suffered a split lip and possibly a broken jaw that he underwent emergency surgery for yesterday. One reader painted a portrait of the scene which made it sound even worse than that: more ›

Justin Bieber mania continues to sweep the city as his Twitter followers got a nice surprise last night: a secret show in Queens! After his "Today" show set, which NBC producer Melissa Lonne called "one of the biggest concerts we've had in our 15-year history," he reportedly took to Twitter to announce a secret show he was holding under the 59th Street Bridge. And sure, 800 fans got to swoon over her perfectly manicured coif, but how many hearts did he have to break along the way? more ›

It's almost like state Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. is trying to piss people off. Less than a year after he helped kill the plan for East River bridge tolls and claimed the idea was "fundamentally wrong," the Democratic majority leader says he would like to revive East River Bridge tolls as a way to generate revenue for the cash-strapped MTA. more ›

An Upper East Side community group voted unanimously against a plan that would have allowed a cold-weather tennis bubble to operate year-round inside a tiny park tucked beneath the Queensboro Bridge. After a reportedly contentious hearing in which tennis players who supported the plan argued with baseball and softball players who said it would privatize public land, Community Board 8's Parks Committee voted en masse against the proposal. more ›

East Side residents are accusing the city of trading a precious bit of green space for a little bit cash. The Parks Department is considering allowing a winter-time tennis bubble to operate year-round in the tiny Queensboro Oval at the corner of 59th Street and York Avenue—meaning neighbors wouldn't be able to access the park tucked beneath the Queensboro Bridge unless they paid a fee. more ›

It's all happening, the Queensboro Bridge is being celebrated for making it to 100! Last night some folks were treated to a fireworks show around 9 p.m. (pictured), which closed out yesterday's festivities (though there are many more to come). more ›

It's Queensboro Bridge celebration time! The East River crossing between Manhattan and Queens turns 100 today, and there have been a number of events today, which will be capped off by some Fireworks by Grucci at 9:15 p.m. According to the Centennial Events page, they will be set off "from the tip of Roosevelt Island" and will be "viewable from the FDR Drive Promenade and Pavilion Park in Manhattan; Roosevelt Island, in Queens at Gantry Park, and Water Taxi Park and the Greenpoint and Williamsburg waterfront in Brooklyn." There are more events this week and might we remind you of Nick Carraway's declaration in The Great Gatsby, when he and Jay Gatsby head into the city over the bridge, "The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world." more ›

The rarely hailed Queensboro Bridge is about to have its shining moment. The structure is turning 100 years old this year with a series of celebratory events. The Daily News reports that before the bridge was built in 1909, "Queens was mostly a rural gateway to the farms and manors of Long Island," with the exception being the more industrial area of Long Island City. Judith Berdy, president of the Roosevelt Island Historical Society, told the paper, "This bridge made the borough of Queens." more ›

Cyclists are complaining that NYPD squad cars have been parking on the Queensboro Bridge bike path, forcing riders to pass by through a narrow 18 inch gap. A DOT spokesman explains they requested police presence on the bike path after two collisions between cyclists and workers painting the bridge. In areas where work is being done, there are signs posted "periodically" instructing bike riders to dismount and walk. more ›

A woman who used to volunteer at the BARC cat loft has a great tale of a kitten she met on the Queensboro Bridge one morning while running. His name is Jeff Bridges.Jeff Bridges is the kitten I found while I was running over the Queensboro Bridge Thursday morning. How the hell he got on the pedestrian walkway of the bridge–a long, long fall on the right, eight lanes of traffic on the left... more ›

As many people wonder about the state of the bridges in the New York City region, in the wake of I-35 collapsing in Minneapolis, the city's Department of Transportation is trying to reassure residents that our bridges are safe. Though many bridges meet the definition of "deficient" - 19% of bridges are in "fair" or "poor" condition, 15% meet the federal definition of "structurally deficient" - a DOT first deputy commissioner Lori Ardito says, "In New York, we do not have any bridges that are structurally deficient." more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting at Tremont and University Aves. in the Bronx, a person pinned by a bus on the upper level of the Queensboro Bridge, and a car overparked into a storefront at 258th St. and Riverdale Ave. in the Bronx.
• The Queens mother of a kidnapped soldier in Iraq hopes that her son is still alive, even though her son's ID and other effects were found in an al Qaeda safehouse.
• Thanks to the "Mad Hatter," NJ is on pace to set a record for bank robberies in 2007.
• New York firefighters have mixed opinions about Giuliani's Presidential aspirations and invocations of 9/11.
• Someone was required to be rescued after falling into a sewer in Brooklyn (fuller post tomorrow).
• Langston Hughes' former 127th St. Harlem brownstone is being converted to a performance space.
• Brooklyn North criminal violence is up 64% over the last two years. A John Jay College criminal expert and neighborhood resident pins the blame on teenagers.
• A community group wants to respond to difficulties encountered with (more darn) kids by privatizing Manhattan Beach, which is maintained by the Parks Dept. Gowanus Lounge has all the details of heavy restrictions proposed for a popular seaside destination for city dwellers that can't afford shares in the Hamptons.