Queensboro Bridge

Queensboro Bridge
The Queensboro Bridge, officially named the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, is a cantilever bridge over the East River in New York City. Completed in 1909, it connects the Long Island City neighborhood in the borough of Queens with the East Midtown and Upper East Side neighborhoods in Manhattan, passing over Roosevelt Island. The bridge is also known as the 59th Street Bridge because its Manhattan end is located between 59th and 60th streets.
The Queensboro Bridge carries New York State Route 25 (NY 25), which terminates at the bridge's western end in Manhattan, and also once carried NY 24 and NY 25A. The western leg of the Queensboro Bridge is flanked on its northern side by the freestanding Roosevelt Island Tramway. The bridge was known as the Queensboro Bridge for 102 years, but in March 2011, it was officially renamed in honor of former New York City mayor Ed Koch.
The Queensboro Bridge is the northernmost of four toll-free vehicular bridges connecting Manhattan Island to Long Island, along with the Williamsburg, Manhattan, and Brooklyn bridges to the south. It is the first entry point into Manhattan in the course of the New York City Marathon and the last exit point out of Manhattan in the Five Boro Bike Tour.
Name
The Queensboro Bridge was originally named in honor of the borough of Queens, which, at the time of the bridge's construction in 1909, was largely rural. It was the third bridge across the East River to be named after a New York City borough, after the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge. By the late 20th century, the Queensboro Bridge was also known as the 59th Street Bridge, after its terminus in Manhattan. This name caused controversy among some Queens residents who felt that the 59th Street Bridge name did not honor the borough of Queens.
On December 8, 2010, Mayor Bloomberg announced that the bridge would be renamed in honor of former mayor Ed Koch from the Queensboro Bridge to the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge. The announcement was made the same week the New York State Legislature voted to rename the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel in honor of former Governor Hugh Carey. The new name became official in March 2011. The renaming decision was unpopular among Queens residents and business leaders, and many local residents continue to refer to the bridge by its older name. New York City Council member Peter Vallone Jr. from Queens vowed to remove Koch's name from the bridge. Vallone said, "Never in a million years would they think to rename the Brooklyn or Manhattan bridges, but for some reason, it was OK to slap Queens around."
Description
The Queensboro Bridge is a two-level double cantilever bridge, with separate cantilevered spans over channels on each side of Roosevelt Island joined by a fixed central truss. In all it has five spans, including approaches between the cantilevered sections and each terminus.
The New York Daily News wrote in 1981 that the Queensboro Bridge "reminds people of the bridges they built with erector sets as children". Nonetheless, the bridge was not as widely appreciated as the Brooklyn Bridge further south, especially in the late 20th century.
Levels
The upper level of the bridge has four lanes of automobile traffic, consisting of two roadways with two lanes in each directions. It provides a view of the bridge's cantilever truss structure and the New York skyline. Although the two upper level roadways both end at Thomson Avenue on the Queens side (with ramps to the Queens side), they diverge in opposite directions on the Manhattan side. The two lanes to the north, normally used by westbound traffic, lead to 62nd and 63rd Streets. The two lanes to the south, normally used by eastbound traffic, lead to 57th and 58th Streets. The southern roadway is used as a westbound high-occupancy vehicle lane during morning rush hours, when all eastbound traffic uses the lower level.
The lower level has five vehicular lanes, the inner four for automobile traffic and the southern outer lane for automobile traffic as well, used exclusively for Queens-bound traffic. The northern lower-level roadway was converted into a permanent pedestrian walk and bicycle path in September 2000.
Spans
The lengths of the spans are as follows:
Manhattan to Roosevelt Island span length (cantilever):
Roosevelt Island span length:
Roosevelt Island to Queens span length (cantilever):
Manhattan approach span:
Queens approach span:
Maximum height above water:
Total length between anchorages: , of which are above water
Total length including approaches:
Until it was surpassed by the Quebec Bridge in 1917, the span between Manhattan and Roosevelt Island was the longest cantilever in North America.
The spans are supported by six piers, which consist of large elliptical arches underneath the bridge's deck. Above the piers rise masonry towers, topped by domed decorations and Art Nouveau-inspired spires. The spires were removed at some point in the 20th century because they were deteriorated.
Manhattan approach
The Manhattan approach to the bridge is supported on a series of Guastavino tile vaults which formed the elegant ceiling of the former Food Emporium Bridge Market and the restaurant Guastavino's, located under the bridge. The inclusion of the space was part of Hornbostel's attempt to make the bridge more hospitable in the city. The space under the Manhattan approach measures across. It is divided into a series of tiled vaults measuring across. As the bridge ascends to the east, the floor slopes down and the ceiling slopes up; as such, the ceiling measures high at its highest point. The Guastavino tiles cover the steel superstructure of the approach ramp.
There is a massive bronze lamppost at the end of the bridge approach, near the intersection of Second Avenue and 59th Street. Formerly, there was a second lamppost near 60th Street. Both lampposts consisted of thick piers, which were topped by four stanchions (each with a globe-shaped lamp) and a larger spherical lamp in the center. The lampposts were both removed in the 1970s, but the 59th Street lamppost was restored shortly thereafter. Parts of the other lamppost were found in a Queens warehouse in 2012.
Historic usage
From the bridge's 1909 opening until the 1930s, the space under the Manhattan approach was used as a food market. During the Great Depression, the space was converted to a sign shop and garage. By the 1970s, the space under the Manhattan approach was used by the Department of Highways. New York City Center's Cinematheque leased space under the Queensboro Bridge in 1973, although the Cinematheque never opened due to a lack of money.
A developer proposed the open-air Bridgemarket under the bridge in 1976, which local residents significantly opposed. Both the New York City Council and the Board of Estimate approved the market in 1977, but a committee of the New York State Assembly blocked the plans. The Bridgemarket plans were revived in 1981; although local politicians supported the project, local residents opposed it. This plan was again modified in 1986 and received approval from the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). Work on Bridgemarket commenced in 1987 but was delayed again following local opposition. The plan was postponed during the early-1990s financial crisis, and Bridgemarket was finally approved in 1996.
Bridgemarket, covering , opened in 1999 at a cost of $24 million. The store operated until the end of 2015. In February 2020, it was announced that Trader Joe's was planning to open a supermarket in this space, which opened in December 2021.
Use during races
The Queensboro Bridge has been part of the New York City Marathon course since 1976, when the marathon course traversed all five boroughs for the first time. During the marathon, which happens every November, runners cross the Queensboro Bridge in the westbound direction toward Manhattan, then pass under the bridge at First Avenue. The bridge is approximately from the beginning of the course on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. The deck of the bridge was initially covered with carpeting for the 1976 marathon; the carpeting was not used after 1977, when the bridge was repaved.
The bridge is also part of the course of the Five Boro Bike Tour, which occurs every April. In contrast to the New York City Marathon, contestants in the Bike Tour traverse the bridge in the eastbound direction toward Queens. , the Five Boro Bike Tour uses the northern upper-level roadway.
History
Development
Prior to the construction of the Queensboro Bridge, two ferries connected modern-day Manhattan and Queens, neither of which were near the modern-day bridge. One such ferry connected Borden Avenue in Hunters Point, Queens, to 34th Street in Kips Bay, Manhattan, while the other ferry connected Astoria Boulevard in Astoria, Queens, with 92nd Street on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
Planning
The first fixed crossing of the East River between Manhattan and Queens was proposed in 1804, when Benjamin Henry Latrobe proposed a masonry bridge there. An architect named R. Graves proposed a three-span suspension bridge linking Manhattan to Long Island City. Queens, in the late 1830s. John A. Roebling, who would later design the Brooklyn Bridge, proposed suspension bridges at the site in 1847 and 1856.
Late-19th-century plans
An attempt to finance a fixed East River crossing was made in 1867 by wealthy Long Island City residents, who established the New-York and Long Island Bridge Company to erect the crossing. This group was led by Thomas Rainey, a doctor from Astoria, Queens. They hired William P. Trowbridge to design a cantilever bridge; he published the design in 1868 and modified it in 1873. The crossing would have connected 77th Street in Manhattan and 34th Avenue in Queens, passing over the center of Blackwell's Island (now Roosevelt Island). The New-York and Long Island Bridge Company appointed commissioners for the proposed bridge in 1875 and hosted an architectural design competition for the bridge in 1876. Eleven architects submitted designs. A cantilever design by Charles Macdonald and the Delaware Bridge Company was selected in early 1877. The Blackwell's Island Bridge, as it was known, would have carried railroad tracks and vehicular traffic on two levels; it was to span high and over long. Despite assurances that the bridge could be completed in two years, no action had been taken by 1878, a year after the plans were approved.
After half of the Blackwell's Island Bridge's $5 million cost had been raised, media sources reported in May 1881 that work was to commence shortly; a cofferdam for one of the bridge's piers was installed that month. By the next year, the cost had increased to $6.3 million. The United States Congress approved plans for the bridge in 1887. The same month, a second company had been incorporated to build a parallel span at the south end of Blackwell's Island. By 1887, Rainey's bridge had been relocated southward so its western terminus was near Lexington Avenue between 64th and 65th Streets. The railroad tracks on the bridge would have connected to the Park Avenue main line via a portal near Park Avenue, but this element of the plan was scrapped due to local opposition. The city's dock commissioners voted in September 1888 to not let the New-York and Long Island Bridge Company construct an underwater pier for the bridge. The following year, Rainey sought to have the bridge relocated further north. The same year, a state justice prevented the company from appointing commissioners to condemn land for the bridge, and the justice found that the bridge's charter was invalid.
Rainey resubmitted plans for the bridge in early 1890. Although the proposal was supported by the New York State Legislature, the state's governor vetoed the plan. Rainey persisted, and the state legislature gave him a charter for the Blackwell's Island Bridge in mid-1892.
Post-unification plans
The City of Greater New York was established in 1898 through the amalgamation of Manhattan and the Bronx in New York City, as well as the then-separate municipalities in Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. In 1899, R. S. Buck published plans for an asymmetrical cantilever bridge connecting Queens with Manhattan. Early plans called for a utilitarian design. Successful plans finally came about in 1903 under the new city's Department of Bridges, led by Gustav Lindenthal, who was appointed to the new position of Commissioner of Bridges in 1902, in collaboration with Leffert L. Buck and Henry Hornbostel, designers of the Williamsburg Bridge.
Construction
Construction soon began, but it would take until 1909 for the bridge to be completed due to delays from the collapse of an incomplete span during a windstorm, and from labor unrest, which included an attempt to dynamite one span. Fifty workers died during construction.
The last rivet was drilled into the bridge on March 19, 1908. The bridge was originally called the Blackwell's Island Bridge, but a group of businessmen in Queens proposed renaming it the Queensboro Bridge in September 1908, saying that the "Blackwell Island" name had negative connotations because of the number of hospitals and asylums there. Despite several Irish-American groups' objections that the name too closely resembled a British name, the "Queensboro Bridge" name stuck.
Opening
The bridge opened for public use on March 30, 1909, having cost about $18 million. Two hundred and thirty-five people applied for the chance to be the first person to jump from the bridge. The ceremonial grand opening was held on June 12, 1909; at the time, the Queensboro was the fourth longest bridge in the world. The grand opening included a fireworks display and a "Queen of the Queensboro Bridge" beauty pageant in the Long Island Star, a local newspaper. There was a ten-cent toll to drive over the bridge, although pedestrians walked across for free. The bridge was then known as the Blackwell's Island Bridge, from an earlier name for Roosevelt Island.
The opening of the bridge encouraged development in Queens, where large amounts of vacant land were developed, and tracts were resold for residential and commercial use. Many industrial concerns also began operating in western Queens, including vehicle-manufacturing plants in Long Island City. Newsday wrote in the 1990s: "More than any other development, the Queensboro Bridge created the modern urban borough of Queens." The completion of the Queensboro Bridge also inspired plans for a wide boulevard, akin to the Grand Concourse in the Bronx; this became Queens Boulevard, which was not finished until 1936. The bridge's upper level originally contained two pedestrian walkways and two elevated railway tracks (which connected a spur of the IRT Second Avenue Elevated Line in Manhattan to the Queensboro Plaza station in Queens). The lower deck originally hosted four motor traffic lanes, and what is now the "outer roadway" and pedestrian walk were two trolley lanes. A trolley connected passengers from Queens and Manhattan to a stop in the middle of the bridge, where passengers could take an elevator or the stairs down to Roosevelt Island.
1910s to 1940s
Shortly after the Queensboro Bridge opened, the city government conducted a study and found that it had no authority to charge tolls on the Queensboro and Manhattan bridges. Tolls on all four bridges across the East River—the Queensboro Bridge, as well as the Williamsburg, Manhattan, and Brooklyn bridges to the south—were abolished in July 1911 as part of a populist policy initiative headed by New York City mayor William Jay Gaynor.
In 1918 or 1919, an elevator building called the elevator storehouse was built adjacent to the bridge's north side, transporting passengers and cars to Welfare Island (now Roosevelt Island). It was known as the "upside-down" building because its main entrance was on the 10th floor, the height of the bridge deck. This now-demolished building provided access to the hospitals on the island.
In 1929, workers began installing three vehicular lanes on the upper level, replacing a sidewalk on the north side of the bridge. The new lanes opened in June 1931. After the trolley lines across the bridge were largely replaced by buses in the 1930s, Steinway Transit retained one of the bridge's trolley tracks and established the Queensboro Bridge Railway, a shuttle streetcar route connecting with the elevator to Roosevelt Island. All service on the Second Avenue Elevated was discontinued in 1942.
The lower roadway of the Queensboro Bridge was originally composed of wooden pavers, as the bridge was intended to be used by horse-drawn carriages. With the increasing popularity of automobiles, the bridge became one of the city's most dangerous roads, as vehicles frequently skidded across the wooden blocks on rainy days. Between 1933 and 1936, thirteen people had died in accidents on the bridge, with 679 further injured; this prompted the city to repave the lower deck from 1935 to 1937. By 1936, the bridge handled an average of 110,000 vehicles daily (with 80,000 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.).
1950s and 1960s
From 1955 to 1958, two additional lanes were built on the upper level. The upper-level ramps on the Queens end of the bridge were built during the same time. In addition, the bridge's vehicular elevator closed after the Welfare Island Bridge from Queens opened in 1955, allowing automobile and truck access to Welfare Island and the only non-aquatic means in and out of the island. The Queensboro Bridge trolley line operated until April 7, 1957, and was the last trolley route in New York state. The trolley lanes and mid-bridge station, as well as the stairs, were removed following the trolley's discontinuation. A separate passenger elevator ran during weekdays from near the Queens end of the bridge to Welfare Island, via a storehouse described as "clean but gloomy", until August 1973.
Acting Manhattan borough president Louis A. Cioffi proposed a $2.06 million ramp on the Manhattan side of the bridge in 1960. The same year, Consolidated Edison spent $4 million installing power cables under the former trolley tracks, converting the tracks into vehicular lanes, and installing emergency slip roads between the new lanes and the existing lower-level roadway. The new lanes opened on September 15, 1960. The city's Department of Public Works requested $200,000 in 1961 to determine the feasibility of adding more roadways to the Queensboro Bridge, and the city's traffic commissioner Henry Barnes announced the next year that he was considering using computers to monitor traffic on the bridge.
In 1964, mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. approved the demolition of several buildings at the bridge's Manhattan terminus to make way for a $2.6 million underpass connecting the bridge's westbound lanes with southbound Second Avenue. Had the underpass been built, a bus terminal and landscaped plaza would also have been erected at the Manhattan end of the bridge. These plans were scrapped due to a lack of funding. City planner Robert Moses proposed developing a 1,000-space parking garage with offices and a department store at the bridge's Manhattan end in 1965, though Barnes objected to the plan. Instead, Barnes proposed a 1,100-spot garage on the Queens side, which was approved in June 1966. The bridge was repainted for seven months starting in November 1966 at a cost of $240,000. Between 1968 and 1970, officials commissioned five studies of Queensboro Bridge traffic, but no changes were made as a result.
1970s to 1990s
Landmark status, toll plan, and deterioration
In 1970, the federal government enacted the Clean Air Act, a series of federal air pollution regulations. As part of a plan by mayor John Lindsay and the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the city government considered implementing tolls on the four free East River bridges, including the Queensboro, in the early 1970s. The plan would have raised money for New York City's transit system and allowed the city to meet the Clean Air Act. Had the tolls been implemented, a tollbooth would have been installed on the bridge's Manhattan approach. Around that time, a small terminal for express buses was proposed for the Manhattan end of the bridge.
On November 23, 1973, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) designated the Queensboro Bridge as a city landmark, preventing any modifications without the LPC's approval. It was the second East River bridge to be so designated, after the Brooklyn Bridge. While there were concerns that the landmark status could prevent tollbooths from being installed, planners said the tollbooths could just be installed on the bridge's approaches. The New York City Board of Estimate delayed ratification of the landmark designation because some space under the bridge's approaches was used for commercial purposes. The tolling proposal was opposed by figures such as Queens borough president Donald Manes, who encouraged the state government to take over the bridge so tolls could not be charged. According to Manes, the tolls would merely increase pollution around Queens Plaza. Abraham Beame, who became mayor in 1974, refused to implement the tolls, and the United States Congress subsequently moved to forbid tolls on the free East River bridges.
By the mid-1970s, as the city government considered an open-air market under the bridge, a city engineer described the bridge as severely deteriorated. Among the issues cited were extensive rusting, faulty expansion joints, clogged drains, potholes, and dirt. New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) engineering director George Zaimes described the bridge's frame as being rusty, with some holes that were as large as a person's head. According to Zaimes, the upper roadway was only attached to the bridge "by its own weight and memory".
1970s and 1980s renovations
The state government started inspecting the Queensboro Bridge in 1978, allocating $1.1 million for a study. That year, the city government also repainted the bridge in a brown and tan color scheme. To reduce congestion, a contraflow lane for express buses was installed at the Manhattan end of the bridge in 1979. That year, the lower deck's outer lanes were closed to vehicles; parts of the outer roadways had weakened to the point that they could barely carry the weight of a passenger car. Repairs to the outer lanes were expected to last for three years and cost $50 million. The southern outer roadway was converted into a pedestrian and bicycle path, which opened in July 1979. The city received $18.6 million in federal funds for the Queensboro Bridge's restoration in 1980. By then, an estimated 175,000 vehicles daily used the bridge.
An extensive renovation commenced on February 25, 1981, with between three and six of the bridge's 11 lanes closed at any given time. That December, the United States Department of Transportation gave $28.8 million for the bridge's renovation. The pedestrian and bike path closed in May 1983. The NYSDOT announced that July that the southern upper roadway, which carried eastbound traffic, would be closed for repairs, which were expected to take 18 months. The northern upper roadway, normally used by westbound traffic. was converted to eastbound-only operation, except during weekday mornings when it carried westbound traffic. The ramp leading from 57th and 58th Street to the southern upper roadway was temporarily closed for reconstruction in early 1984. By the beginning of 1985, the southern upper roadway had reopened to traffic, having cost $31 million to rehabilitate. The outer lanes of the lower level had also reopened, but state officials estimated that the project would not be complete until 1992.
The Queensboro Bridge's pedestrian path reopened in July 1985; the same year, the city received another $60 million in federal funds for the renovations of the Queensboro, Manhattan, and Brooklyn bridges. In February 1987, the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) announced that parts of the northern upper roadway would be closed for two years. As part of the $42 million project, a new concrete deck would be installed, and the steel structure would be restored. The ramps to 62nd and 63rd Street closed in October 1987 and reopened twelve months later. This closure coincided with the renovations of other East River bridges. To alleviate congestion, the lower-level bike path was opened to vehicular traffic at peak times, and flatbed trucks carried bicycles across the bridge. The lower deck's southern outer roadway was closed for emergency repairs in 1988 after workers discovered severe corrosion. The reconstruction of the upper deck was completed in 1989 at a cost of $100 million. The bridge was still in poor condition: during a tour of the bridge in 1988, transportation engineer Sam Schwartz was able to peel off part of one of the bridge's beams with one hand.
1990s renovations
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) proposed a rail link to LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy airports in 1990; the line, which would have used the Queensboro Bridge, was canceled in 1995. A renovation of the Queensboro Bridge's lower level began in June 1990, when two Manhattan-bound lanes were closed. This phase of construction was supposed to cost $120 million. The lower deck's partial closure caused severe congestion in Queens, since part of the nearby Long Island Expressway was also closed for renovation. By 1993, the renovation was slated to be completed the next year. At that time, officials announced plans for a Manhattan-bound high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane on the bridge during morning rush hours. A Queens-bound HOV lane during the afternoon was deemed infeasible due to heavy congestion in Manhattan. The Manhattan-bound HOV lane opened in April 1994; motorists violating the restriction were fined and had points deducted from their driver's licenses. All lower-level lanes had reopened by October 1994.
The NYCDOT announced in 1995 that it would spend another $161 million to renovate the outer lower-level roadways starting the following year. Two lanes were again closed for maintenance from April to September 1996, causing severe congestion. Following complaints from residents near 57th Street, starting in October 1996, traffic on the upper level traveled on the left during rush hours to reduce noise pollution and traffic congestion. Vehicles headed for Queens had to enter at 62nd and 63rd Streets, which caused widespread confusion. After protests from Upper East Side residents, the original right-hand traffic pattern was reinstated on the upper level, and the southern lower roadway (used by pedestrians) was converted to an eastbound vehicular lane during the afternoon rush hour. Some pedestrians and bikers opposed the conversion of the southern lower roadway, as they would have to wait for a van to take them across the bridge during weekday afternoons, but the new traffic pattern was implemented anyway.
In the late 1990s, the NYCDOT hired architect Walter Melvin to renovate the vaults under the Manhattan approach. During the renovation of the main span, a scaffold collapsed in 1997, killing a worker. The renovation of the northern lower roadway was completed in mid-1998. That August, the NYCDOT implemented a new traffic pattern during evening rush hours, where the northern upper roadway carried eastbound traffic, giving the bridge six eastbound and three westbound lanes during that time. The northern lower roadway, which carried pedestrians and cyclists during mornings and off-peak hours, was converted into a westbound lane during the evening rush hour. The NYCDOT's commissioner called the changes an "interim fix for nine to 14 months". By then, about 184,000 vehicles used the bridge daily, with slightly more eastbound than westbound vehicles using the bridge.
2000s to present
Following the completion of additional renovations, in September 2000, the northern upper roadway was converted back to westbound-only at all times. The northern lower roadway was converted into a permanent bike and pedestrian path, while the southern lower roadway became an eastbound lane. After the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001, a temporary HOV restriction was implemented during morning rush hours, when drivers without passengers were banned from using the bridge. An approach to the bridge in Queens, carrying Queens Boulevard over Sunnyside Yard, was rebuilt from 2001 to 2003. The city announced plans in 2002 to restore six masonry piers supporting the bridge. The same year, mayor Michael Bloomberg again proposed tolling the four free East River bridges, including the Queensboro Bridge; many local residents opposed his plan, and Bloomberg postponed the tolling plan in 2003.
As part of a $168 million project that began in 2004, workers repainted the bridge. They also added fences and lighting, restored a trolley kiosk on the Manhattan end of the bridge, and restored the Manhattan approach in a separate project between 2003 and 2006. The renovation was temporarily halted in October 2005 after a small fire. In March 2009, the New York City Bridge Centennial Commission sponsored events marking the centennial of the bridge's opening. The bridge was also designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers during the year of its centennial.
The bridge was renamed after Ed Koch in 2011. After a series of fatal crashes in 2013, officials decided to close the southern lower roadway during the nighttime. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced plans in April 2016 to allocate $244 million for repairs to the Queensboro Bridge's upper deck. Concurrently, elected officials proposed adding tolls to the bridge yet again.
In January 2021, the city decided to install a two-way protected bike path on the northern lower roadway, to be completed by 2022. The southern lower roadway, which at the time was used by vehicular traffic, would be used exclusively by pedestrians. The conversion of the southern lower roadway was subsequently delayed because of a planned renovation of the upper deck. The renovation commenced in February 2022 and was expected to last until December 2023. A plan for congestion pricing in New York City was approved in mid-2023, allowing the MTA to toll drivers who use the Queensboro Bridge and then travel south of 60th Street.
Public transportation
Rail tracks
In addition to the two elevated railway tracks, the bridge had four streetcar tracks. On the Manhattan side, there were two ramps from each of the outer lower-level roadways to a set of platforms under Second Avenue. On the Queens side, the tracks split into multiple branches. In the bridge's first decade, the tracks were used by the New York and Queens County Railway, Manhattan and Queens Traction Company, Steinway Lines, and Third Avenue Railway, The following Queens lines operated over the bridge:
Queensboro Bridge Local, 1909–1957 (last streetcar line in the city)
Astoria Line (Queens surface), 1910–1939
Steinway Line, 1910–1939
College Point Line, 1910–1925
Corona Line (surface), 1910–1922
Queens Boulevard Line (surface), 1913–1937
One Manhattan line operated over the bridge, the Third Avenue Railway's 42nd Street Crosstown Line, from 1910 to 1950.
On the Manhattan end of the Queensboro Bridge were originally five trolley kiosks, which contained stairs leading to a trolley terminal underground. Lindenthal and Hornbostel designed the structures, which had terracotta-paneled facades, cast-iron columns, and a copper roof with cast-iron fascias. There were arched, glazed-tile ceilings inside each of the kiosks. The kiosks also had Greek key motifs; shields with garlands; and ornamental brackets. The locations of three kiosks are unknown. Another kiosk was sent to the Brooklyn Children's Museum in 1974, then was relocated to Roosevelt Island and renovated into a visitor center. The Roosevelt Island kiosk measures across and weighs . Yet another kiosk remains in place in Manhattan but is used as storage space. The remaining kiosk in Manhattan was planned to be removed in 2002 but was instead restored.
Buses
The bridge carries the Q32 local bus route operated by MTA New York City Transit and the Q60 and Q101 local bus routes operated by the MTA Bus Company. The bridge also carries 20 express bus routes in the eastbound direction only: the MTA Bus Company's , and New York City Transit's X63, X64, and X68. (These bus routes use the Queens-Midtown Tunnel for westbound travel.)
In popular culture
Because of its design and location, the Queensboro Bridge has appeared in numerous media works, including films and TV shows, set in New York City.
Literature
In F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway traverse the bridge on their way from Long Island to Manhattan.
In the climax of Truman Capote's 2005 novel Summer Crossing, the main character crashes her car into the Queensboro Bridge.
In the climax of Norm Macdonald's 2016 book Based on a True Story: Not a Memoir, Adam Eget (the co-host on his video podcast Norm Macdonald Live) is found making a handsome living underneath the Queensboro Bridge, jerking off punks for fifteen dollars a man; the joke is also repeated on Norm Macdonald Live.
Music
The title of the Simon & Garfunkel 1966 song "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)" refers to the Queensboro Bridge. Harpers Bizarre covered the song in 1967, with the record rising to No. 13 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it the musical group's best-selling hit.
An Australian group, The Seekers, covered the aforementioned Paul Simon song on their 1967 album Seekers Seen in Green.
It is also cited in the Jack's Mannequin song "Diane, the Skyscraper," on the Dear Jack EP.
It is also mentioned by rapper and Queensbridge native MC Shan in his song "The Bridge".
It is the title of a track from the album Indiana by singer-songwriter David Mead.
Music videos
Billy Joel's video for his 1985 single "You're Only Human (Second Wind)" was primarily filmed on the bridge.
Pink Floyd's original video for "Us and Them" prominently features footage of the bridge.
Pink Floyd's original video for "Money" also features footage of the bridge.
The Queensbridge hip hop group Mobb Deep filmed the music video for "Shook Ones (Part II)" on the bridge.
Film
In the 1932 Paramount Pictures light comedy film No Man of Her Own, starring Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, Lombard's character looks out of her hotel window to a view across the East River and the Queensboro Bridge, and refers to "Blackwell's Island", now known as Roosevelt Island.
In the 1936 screwball comedy My Man Godfrey, the bridge is seen several times as the location of the city dump where the "forgotten men" live.
The bridge is also the backdrop in the 1937 crime drama Dead End.
In the 1948 film Sorry, Wrong Number, Leona Stevenson (Barbara Stanwyck) is an invalid who sees the bridge outside her room.
In the 1958 Warner Brothers' film Auntie Mame, the bridge serves as a backdrop for Mame Dennis' Beekman Place apartment.
In the 1963 Universal film The Thrill of it All, obstetrician James Garner delivers Arlene Francis's baby on a traffic-jammed Queensboro Bridge.
The bridge appears prominently in several scenes of the 1966 comedy film Any Wednesday, which starred Jane Fonda, Jason Robards, and Dean Jones.
In Woody Allen's 1979 film Manhattan, the characters played by Allen and Diane Keaton relax on a bench in front of the bridge at dawn. The shot became the film's poster image.
The final chase in the 1981 film Escape From New York takes place on the bridge. It is previously named by the President's kidnappers in a ransom note left in his briefcase in Central Park as where they'll release the President if their terms are met and by Issac Hayes's "Duke of New York" as what they'll cross the next day on their way to freedom with the kidnapped president leading them from the hood of the "duke"'s car..
The climax of the 1985 film Turk 182! takes place on and around the Queensboro Bridge.
The bridge is seen in the opening credits scene of the 1985 film Death Wish 3.
In the 1991 film New Jack City, Nino Brown and the Duh Duh Man hang a man over the side of the bridge because of a drug debt he owes. Eventually they throw him off it to his death.
In the 1992 family comedy film Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, the protagonist Kevin is seen taking a taxi over the bridge upon his entrance into New York City.
In the 1993 romantic comedy film For Love or Money, the main protagonists Doug Ireland (Michael J. Fox) and Andy Hart (Gabrielle Anwar) reunite on opposite sides of the Queensboro Bridge and call out to each other on what they found out about unscrupulous billionaire Christian Hanover (Anthony Higgins).
In the 1997 American action thriller film Conspiracy Theory, directed by Richard Donner, the bridge is crossed many times throughout the film.
In the 2002 superhero film Spider-Man, the climax of the film where Spider-Man battles Green Goblin takes place around the bridge.
In the 2003 slapstick comedy film Anger Management, Dave Buznik (Adam Sandler) and Dr. Buddy Rydell (played by Jack Nicholson), stop their car in the middle of the bridge to sing "I Feel Pretty".
In the 2003 American comedy film Elf, when Buddy is ostracized by his father, he goes to the Queensboro Bridge to brood. It is from there that he sees Santa's sleigh out of control, on its way to Central Park.
The 2010 movie Salt has a scene that takes place on, and was filmed on, the Queensboro Bridge.
The 2012 film The Dark Knight Rises was filmed on the bridge.
In the 2013 movie Now You See Me, a car chase across the bridge leads to a crash in which the death of a character is faked.
The bridge was featured in the 2014 film A Most Violent Year, in which there is an attempted hijacking of a fuel truck on it, followed by a short shootout and foot chase that leads down one of the bridge's service staircases. The bridge is referred to as the "59th Street Bridge" in the film.
In the 2018 film Avengers: Infinity War, Peter Parker is on a school bus driving over the Queensboro Bridge. When he sees an alien spaceship over Manhattan, he changes into Spider-Man and exits the bus, swinging towards the spaceship.
Television/Online Video
The Queensboro Bridge has been shown in the credits of the television series Archie Bunker's Place, The King of Queens, Rescue Me, and Alphas. The opening sequences of Taxi and The Jeffersons. also depict the bridge, and the opening theme of The King of Queens refers to it.
The bridge is taken over by a small army of Trolls in "Troll Bridge", the fifth episode of the first season of The Real Ghostbusters.
The bridge is also referred to in The Simpsons 1996 episode "You Only Move Twice", when Hank Scorpio destroys it.
An illustration of the bridge by Aurore Giscard d'Estaing is used in the main title of the A&E TV series A Nero Wolfe Mystery.
A running joke on the video podcast Norm Macdonald Live involved host Norm Macdonald insinuating that straight man and co-host Adam Eget would "jerk off punks for fifteen dollars a man", an insinuation that was also in Macdonald's 2016 book Based on a True Story: Not a Memoir.
Video games
The bridge was destroyed in the video game Crysis 2.
The bridge appears in the game Driver: Parallel Lines and is able to be traveled on foot or by car.
The bridge is part of the Nintendo DS game C.O.P.: The Recruit.
The bridge appears in The Crew and The Crew 2.
Joey refers to the bridge just having been finished when he was a kid in "Blackwell Unbound"
See also
List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in New York
References
Notes
Bibliography
"Abandoned Stations: Queensborough Bridge Railway Terminal"
External links
NYCDOT.gov
NYCroads.com
1908 establishments in New York City
Bike paths in New York City
Bridges completed in 1909
Bridges in Manhattan
Bridges in Queens, New York
Bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in New York City
Bridges over the East River
Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan
Cantilever bridges in the United States
Double-decker bridges
Henry Hornbostel buildings
Historic American Engineering Record in New York City
Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks
Long Island City
National Register of Historic Places in Queens, New York
New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan
New York City Designated Landmarks in Queens, New York
Pedestrian bridges in New York City
Railroad bridges in New York City
Railroad bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in New York City
Road bridges in New York City
Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in New York City
Roads with a reversible lane
Roosevelt Island
Steel bridges in the United States
New York State Register of Historic Places in New York County
New York State Register of Historic Places in Queens County