Results tagged “queensborobridge”

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).

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."

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."

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.

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...

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."

• 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.

Living on Roosevelt Island may afford you gorgeous views and short commute to Manhattan, but residents really would like more ways out. The Sun reports residents want to build a staircase and elevator to the Queensboro Bridge in case of an emergency. An emergency like evil, goopy water?

He made his name in London, Paris, Madrid, and Tokyo, and now he's making his mark on New York, too, with four major projects in development. Richard Rogers, one of Britain's handful of architect-knights, has just been awarded the 2007 Pritzker Prize, architecture's top honor.

Kuma Flowers, by Will at Untitled Name

Queensboro Bridge, by Pabo76.

People incensed about the Sean Bell shooting held their "Day of Outrage" protest on Wall Street today. Joe went down and got a nice set of shots.

“The guy never even came over to see what had happened,” Ms. Kelly said in a near-whisper. “He got out of his truck and walked away.” As she pleaded for someone to call 911, the driver and some of his colleagues “just stood off and watched,” she said. “Nobody offered anything, nothing like, ‘Can I help?’ That all came from other bikers who came upon the scene.”

The ING New York City Marathon is just five days away, and many people are probably thinking about their viewing strategies. The marathon website has different suggestions for watching the professional marathoners and friends and family. If you're cheering someone on, the ING NYC marathon suggests:

Mile 8 in Brooklyn , where the three starts converge, is a great place to catch runners looking fresh for photographs. A variety of subways can get you there: the C to Lafayette Avenue; the G to Fulton Street; the 2, 3, 4, or 5 to Nevins Street; or the B, D, N, Q, or R to Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street.

Continue reading "Marathon Viewing Strategies"

+ And the award for worst-Halloween costume idea goes to the Brooklyn Record. Congrats!

A Queens man who was a cameraman for NY1 fell off the Queensboro Bridge yesterday and died later at a hospital. Christian Milin had been walking home with a friend, after hanging out at Manhattan bars, when police believe he slipped and fell onto an exit ramp, suffering "massive injuries." The Post reports the friend (described as "shaken" and "distraught") as saying:

Honestly, we probably shouldn't have been walking on that point of the bridge. I don't know if [Milin] tripped or slipped... We decided we were going to be adventurous. We decided we were going to walk across the bridge.

The Queensboro Bridge is open today after its four alarm fire yesterday afternoon. It's unclear what caused the fire (hypothesis is that construction materials caused it), but thousands of drivers were inconvenienced as the bridge was totally shut down for a part of the time. There were no injuries. Perhaps the Department of Transportation (or whichever agency) should think again about keeping flammable tarps on a bridge for over a year.

This week in Washington, John Roberts was confirmed as the Chief Justice of the United States. While the media will focus on the big cases and the big personalities that decide them, it's easy to overlook the law that happens locally. New York City has a rich legal history full of important cases decided by some of the country's most respected and best loved judges. Local issues have turned into Supreme Court cases, and even city cases that were never appealed can be meaningful across the country simply because they happened here. In the grand scheme of things, Martha Stewart's trial affects you far less than many of the decisions made under the radar in state court.

Sidney Pollack's The Interpreter definitely makes a point of depicting the city in grand panoramic style, with plenty of overheads and shots on bridges. There are street scenes, as Nicole Kidman goes in and out of her apartment on Stuvesant and 10th, rides her Vespa up Lafayette Street and Fourth Avenue, and walks in and out of the U.N. building. There is even a few scenes in the outer boroughs, with nods to Crown Heights and Long Island City. But there is something blank and unfamiliar in the way the city is used as a backdrop. Almost as though it's an outsider's way of looking at the city.

The Sweet Smell of Success plays Friday and Saturday at the Film Forum at 1:35, 5:25, 9:15. Read Andrew Sarris's review of The Sweet Smell of Success; it's also a Great Movie according to Roger Ebert.

The Department of Transportation reports that bike ridership over the East River is at the highest level in the 23 years of keeping bike ridership numbers. The DOT points to the renovated bike paths in Williamsburg and on the Manhattan Bridge; the Queensboro Bridge's biking popularity more than doubled year-to-year.

Gothamist Goes on The Angel Project
Scavenger hunt as installation art: Gothamist investigates.

Dave Frieder is a man after Gothamist's own heart: He has traversed most of the bridges in New York, capturing beautiful photographs of the bridges and the city. Because of September 11, bridge security has tightened up, making it hard for him to get back on top of the world. He has been able to visit the George Washington Bridge lately, which is his favorite. Frieder eventually wants to put out a coffee table book of the bridges, and Gothamist would be first in line to buy one.

Not as nice as anything rion takes, but on my way to the airport yesterday morning, I managed to get this picture from the car. And then later that day, I took this picture of the lights from the plane. The plane's landing was pretty choppy, but I think it looks cool.