It maybe digital today, but it started way back in the past in other forms: paths, roads, trains…bridges.
There have been so many stories in the world about people who come from somewhere and go to nowhere, and viceversa; and especially of course in a city like our unique New York.
Now here’s a bit of the Williamsburg Bridge’s history.
Construction on the “East River Bridge”, the second across the East River, began in 1896. The new bridge was to be built north of the Grand Streer Ferry, terminating at Delancey and Clinton Streets on the Manhattan side and at South Fifth Street and Driggs Avenue on the Brooklyn side (actually one of the nicest spots in Williamsburg to sit down and read, chat or contemplate – no smoking allowed – ).
Engineers first constructed caissons on either side to support the future bridge. The caisson on the Manhattan side was completed in May 1897, upon which time the caisson on the Brooklyn side was launched. The caissons were manufactured in a shipyard in Williamsburg. In January 1898, Mayor Robert Anderson Van Wyck removed the members of the East River Bridge Commission due to “charges of extravagance”. A commission of six people appointed by the state was proposed, but the bill was rejected. By this time Weylin was already opened and functioning as the first Williamsburgh Savings Bank building.
As part of the Williamsburg Bridge’s construction, the section of Delancey Street between the bridge’s western end and the Bowery was widened. The portion of Spring Street between the Bowery and Lafayette Street was also expanded. This was the third plan for the bridge’s western approaches that was publicly announced. Public opposition had caused the cancellation of previous proposals, which included a wide street extending from the end of the bridge to either Cooper Square or the intersection of Houston Street and Second Avenue. To accommodate the bridge’s approaches, 600 houses were demolished in total, including 330 on the Manhattan side and 270 on the Brooklyn side. More than 10,000 people were evicted from these houses during construction.
The bridge’s supporting wires were ready to be installed by February 1901. The first temporary wires between the East River Bridge’s two towers was strung on April 9, 1901. They were to be replaced later with permanent, thicker main cables on both sides of the bridge’s deck. Work on the bridge’s pedestrian deck begun soon afterward. The pedestrian path on the East River Bridge was completed in June 1901. Ornamental lights were also placed on the bridge. In 1902, The East River Bridge was renamed the “Williamsburg Bridge”.
There were several deaths during construction. They included a worker who fell from the Manhattan approach in May 1900, the main steelwork engineer, who fell from the Brooklyn approach in September 1900; and a foreman who drowned in March 1902. Additionally, a fire occurred on the Brooklyn side’s tower in November 1902, which nearly severed the bridge’s cables.
The bridge opened on December 19, 1903, at a cost of $24,200,000 ($624 million in 2016). At the time it was constructed, the Williamsburg Bridge set the record for the longest suspension bridge span in the world. The record stood until 1924, when the Bear Mountain Bridge was completed.
We toast to all of those people who worked to connect the two sides of the river in such a monumental and admirable piece of architecture. Without them, millions of stories wouldn’t have happened.
Cheers!!!
Photography by Federico Rozo