Queensboro Bridge

Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Good article Template:About Template:Main other{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox bridge with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank = 1| also_known_as | alt | aqueduct_name | architect | begin | below | bridge_name | builder | built | capacity | caption | carries | child | clearance | clearance_above | clearance_below | closed | collapsed | demolished | complete | contracted_designer | coord_format | coordinates | cost | crosses | dedicated | depth | design | designer | destroyed | diameter | downstream | electrification | embed | embedded | ends | engineering | extra | fabricator | fetchwikidata |first_length | first_diameter | followed | gauge | height | heritage | id | id_type | image | image_caption | image_size | image_upright | inaugurated | lanes | length | life | load | locale | location | mainspan | maint | maintained | mapframe | mapframe-caption | mapframe-custom | mapframe-id | mapframe-coord | mapframe-wikidata | mapframe-point | mapframe-shape | mapframe-frame-width | mapframe-frame-height | mapframe-shape-fill | mapframe-shape-fill-opacity | mapframe-stroke-color | mapframe-stroke-colour | mapframe-stroke-width | mapframe-marker | mapframe-marker-color | mapframe-marker-colour | mapframe-geomask | mapframe-geomask-stroke-color | mapframe-geomask-stroke-colour | mapframe-geomask-stroke-width | mapframe-geomask-fill | mapframe-geomask-fill-opacity | mapframe-zoom | mapframe-length_km | mapframe-length_mi | mapframe-area_km2 | mapframe-area_mi2 | mapframe-frame-coordinates | mapframe-frame-coord | mapframe-switcher | material | material1 | material2 | name | named_for | native_name | native_name_lang | notrack | num_track | number_spans | official_name | onlysourced | open | opened | opening | os_grid_reference | other_name | owner | passable | piers_in_water | pierswater | preceded | qid | rebuilt | references | refs | replaced_by | replaces | second_length | second_diameter | spans | starts | structure_gauge | third_length | third_diameter | toll | towpath | track_gauge | traffic | traversable | upstream | website | width | winner }}Template:Main other

The Queensboro Bridge, officially 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. Because the western end of the bridge connects to 59th Street in Manhattan, it is also called the 59th Street Bridge. The bridge consists of five steel spans measuring Template:Cvt long; including approaches, its total length is Template:Cvt.

The Queensboro Bridge carries New York State Route 25 (NY 25), which terminates at the bridge's western end in Manhattan. The bridge has two levels: an upper level with a pair of two-lane roadways, and a lower level with four vehicular lanes flanked by a walkway and a bike lane. The western leg of the Queensboro Bridge is paralleled on its northern side by the Roosevelt Island Tramway. The bridge is one of four vehicular bridges directly connecting Manhattan Island and Long Island, along with the Williamsburg, Manhattan, and Brooklyn bridges to the south.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It lies along the courses of the New York City Marathon and the Five Boro Bike Tour.

Serious proposals for a bridge linking Manhattan to Long Island City were first made as early as 1838, but various 19th-century plans to erect such a bridge, including two proposals by Queens doctor Thomas Rainey, never came to fruition. After the creation of the City of Greater New York in 1898, plans for a city-operated bridge were finalized in 1901. The bridge opened for public use on March 30, 1909, and was initially used by pedestrians, horse-drawn and motor vehicles, elevated trains, and trolleys. Elevated service ceased in 1942, followed by trolley service in 1957. The upper-level roadways were built in the early 1930s and the late 1950s. Designated as a New York City landmark in 1973, the bridge was renovated extensively from the late 1970s to the 1990s. The bridge was officially renamed in 2011 in honor of former New York City mayor Ed Koch, and another renovation occurred in the early 2020s.

Name

The Queensboro Bridge was originally named for the borough of Queens and 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.<ref name="n133320926">Template:Cite news</ref> By the late 20th century, the Queensboro Bridge was also known as the 59th Street Bridge because its Manhattan end is located between 59th and 60th streets. This name caused controversy among Queens residents who felt that the 59th Street Bridge name did not honor the borough of Queens.<ref name="n133320926" /><ref name="n133326018">Template:Cite news</ref>

In December 2010, mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that the bridge would be renamed in honor of former mayor Ed Koch;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the bridge had been renovated extensively in the 1980s, when he was mayor.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge name was formalized on March 23, 2011.<ref name="NYTimes-QboroRenaming-2011">Template:Cite news; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; Template:Cite news</ref> The renaming was unpopular among Queens residents and business leaders;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Los Angeles Times wrote that Queens residents found the renaming disrespectful to their borough.<ref name="Susman 2011 u996">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The general public continued to call it the Queensboro Bridge years after the renaming.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> New York City Council member Peter Vallone Jr. of Queens proposed removing Koch's name from the bridge in 2013.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In all, it has five steel truss spans, as well as approach viaducts on either side.<ref name="ER p. 98">Template:Harvnb</ref> The total length of the five spans, between the anchorages on the Manhattan and Queens sides, are approximately Template:Cvt,<ref name="ER p. 98" /><ref name="SA p. 100">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="The New York Times 1908 p752">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> of which Template:Convert are above water.<ref name="p278370206">Template:Cite news</ref> In addition, there is a Template:Convert approach viaduct in Manhattan and a Template:Convert approach viaduct in Queens, connecting the anchorages on either side to street level. This brings the bridge's total length to Template:Convert.<ref name="ER p. 98" />Template:Efn The bridge carries New York State Route 25, which ends at the span's western terminus.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Society Society 2008 p. 68">Template:Harvnb</ref>

Spans

The lengths of the steel spans are as follows, from the westernmost span to the easternmost:<ref name="ER p. 98" /><ref name="The New York Times 1908 p752" /><ref name="p126873067">Template:Cite magazine Template:PD-notice</ref>

Spans of the Queensboro Bridge<ref name="ER p. 98" /><ref name="The New York Times 1908 p752" /><ref name="p126873067"/>

West end	East end	Crosses	Length
Manhattan anchorage	Manhattan pier	York Avenue	Template:Cvt
Manhattan pier	Roosevelt Island western pier	East River's west channel, FDR Drive	Template:Cvt
Roosevelt Island western pier	Roosevelt Island eastern pier	Roosevelt Island	Template:Cvt
Roosevelt Island eastern pier	Queens pier	East River's east channel	Template:Cvt
Queens pier	Queens anchorage	Vernon Boulevard	Template:Cvt

The bridge was intended to carry a dead load of Template:Convert.<ref name="The New York Times 1908 p752" /> Each span includes two parallel lines of trusses, one each on the north and south sides of the bridge; the centers of these trusses are spaced Template:Convert apart.<ref name="p126851307">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The bottom chord of each set of trusses is composed of box girders, while the top chord is composed of eyebars measuring Template:Convert deep.<ref name="p126873067" /> The trusses range in height from Template:Convert between the bottom and top chords; the steel towers atop each pier measure Template:Convert tall.<ref name="The New York Times 1908 p752" /> Unlike other large bridges, the trusses are not suspended; instead, the spans are directly connected to each other.<ref name="NPS p. 2">Template:Harvnb</ref> In addition, there are transverse floor beams, which protrude Template:Convert from the trusses on either side of the deck.<ref name="SA p. 101">Template:Harvnb</ref> Atop the bridge's topmost chords were originally galvanized steel ropes, which acted as handrails for bridge painters. Five hand-operated scaffolds were also placed on the bridge.<ref name="ER p. 99">Template:Harvnb</ref>

The spans are cantilevered from steel towers that rise above four central piers.<ref name="p126851307" /><ref name="NPS p. 2" /> Each cantilevered section measures Template:Convert long. The two spans above the East River's channels are composed of cantilever arms, which extend outward from the towers on either side of the channel. Each pair of cantilever arms meets at a set of bents above the middle of each channel. The bents allowed the cantilever arms to move horizontally due to temperature changes, and it allowed structural loads to be distributed between the two arms.<ref name="p126851307" /> The bridge uses nickel-steel bars that were intended to be 40 to 50 percent stronger than regular structural-steel bars of the same weight. The beams could withstand loads of up to Template:Convert each, while the nickel-steel eyebars were intended to withstand loads of up to Template:Convert.<ref name="SA p. 100" /><ref name="The New York Times 1908 p752" /> The decks themselves were designed to carry as much as Template:Convert.<ref name="p144906008">Template:Cite news</ref>

The steel spans between the anchorages weigh a total of Template:Convert<ref name="SA p. 100" /> and have a maximum grade of 3.41 percent.<ref name="The New York Times 1908 p752" /><ref name="p572216360">Template:Cite news</ref> The spans were intended to be at least Template:Convert above mean high water;<ref name="p899683487">Template:Cite magazine</ref> the bridge reaches a maximum height of Template:Convert<ref name="p144906008" /><ref name="p507939040">Template:Cite news</ref> or Template:Convert above high mean water.<ref name="p278370206" /> Until it was surpassed by the Quebec Bridge in 1917, the span between Manhattan and Roosevelt Island was the longest cantilever in North America;<ref name="asce">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> it was also the second-longest worldwide, after the Forth Bridge in Scotland.<ref name="p126873067" /><ref name="n134967934">Template:Cite news</ref>

Levels

The upper level is Template:Convert wide.<ref name="The New York Times 1908 p752" /><ref name="p572216360" /> The 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.<ref name="ER p. 98" /><ref name="open" /> There were also provisions for two additional tracks between the trusses (taking up the space occupied by the walkways), as well as Template:Convert walkways cantilevered outside the trusses.<ref name="The New York Times 1908 p752" /><ref name="p126851307" /> Template:As of, the upper level has four lanes of automobile traffic, consisting of a pair of two-lane roadways. Although both roadways end at Thomson Avenue in Queens, they diverge in Manhattan. The two northern lanes, normally used by westbound traffic, lead to 62nd and 63rd Streets. The two southern lanes, normally used by eastbound traffic, lead to 57th and 58th Streets.<ref name="NPS p. 3">Template:Harvnb</ref> The southern roadway is used as a westbound high-occupancy vehicle lane during morning rush hours, when all eastbound traffic uses the lower level.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The lower level is Template:Convert wide<ref name="The New York Times 1908 p752" /><ref name="p572216360" /> and is divided into three sections: a northern, central, and southern roadway.<ref name="open" /> The center roadway is Template:Convert wide and was originally composed of a Template:Convert general-purpose road in the middle, flanked by a pair of trolley tracks.<ref name="The New York Times 1908 p752" /><ref name="SA p. 101" /> The northern and southern lower-level roadways each had one additional trolley track, for a total of four trolley tracks.<ref name="SA p. 101" /><ref name="open" /> The central roadway originally had a wood block pavement.<ref name="ER p. 98" /><ref name="n133327304" /> Template:As of, the lower level has four vehicular lanes: two in each direction within the center roadway. The northern lower-level roadway was converted into a permanent pedestrian walk and bicycle path in September 2000;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> pedestrians were relocated to the southern lower-level roadway in 2025.<ref name="Russo-Lennon u449"/>

Piers

The five spans are supported by six piers; the westernmost and easternmost piers act as anchorages.<ref name="p899683487" /><ref name="The New York Times 2002 j597" /> Each of the piers consists of two columns supported by an elliptical arch measuring Template:Convert wide.<ref name="p899683487" /> The piers each measure Template:Convert across at their bases (including the arched openings).<ref name="p571537619">Template:Cite news</ref> They range from Template:Convert tall, with the piers on Roosevelt Island being the tallest.<ref name="n134969352">Template:Cite news</ref> The foundations of the Roosevelt Island piers are shallow, since there is bedrock just below the surface of the island. By comparison, the piers in Manhattan and Queens extend over Template:Convert deep.<ref name="SA p. 100" />

The piers are faced with Maine granite and are attached to a backing made of concrete and Mohawk Valley limestone.<ref name="p571537619" /> In total, workers used Template:Convert of limestone, Template:Convert of concrete, and Template:Convert of granite to build the bridges.<ref name="p899683487" /> Above the piers rise the bridge's towers, which contain domed decorations and Art Nouveau-inspired spires.<ref name="The New York Times 2002 j597">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The towers extend Template:Convert above the bridge's lower chords.<ref name="p144906008" /> The tops of the towers are made of 225 granite blocks, which were part of the original design but not added until 1937.<ref name="p1250464082" /> The spires were removed at some point in the 20th century after deteriorating.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The two anchorages, one each at the Manhattan and Queens ends, are about Template:Convert inland of the shore.<ref name="n134961972" /> Each anchorage was built with spiral staircases and elevators.<ref name="n134969352" /><ref name="n134961972">Template:Cite news</ref> The anchorage in Manhattan is between First Avenue and York Avenue, while the Queens anchorage is near Vernon Boulevard.<ref name="p571537619" /> The anchorages are topped by small rooms with arched openings.<ref name="n134965012">Template:Cite news</ref>

Approaches

The approaches on both sides of the bridge are composed of stiffened steel frames, but the Manhattan approach is the only one that is ornately decorated.<ref name="NPS p. 2" /> The Queens approach consists of a series of elevated concrete-and-steel ramps, which were never formally decorated.<ref name="NPS p. 3" />

Manhattan approach

The Manhattan approach to the bridge is supported on a series of Guastavino tile vaults.<ref name="Dunlap 1999">Template:Cite news</ref> The vaults are composed of three layers of tiles, which support themselves and measure Template:Convert thick in total. A layer of glazing and small lights were installed in 1918.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> The space under the Manhattan approach measures Template:Convert across.<ref name="p277896828">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nyt-1977-08-04" /> It is divided into a series of tiled vaults measuring Template:Convert across.<ref name="NPS p. 2" /><ref name="nyt-1977-08-04" /> As the bridge ascends to the east, the floor slopes down and the ceiling slopes up; as such, the ceiling measures Template:Convert high at its highest point.<ref name="nyt-1977-08-04">Template:Cite news</ref> The Guastavino tiles cover the steel superstructure of the approach ramp.<ref name="The New York Times 1996 i504">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Originally, the vaults were intended as storage space.<ref name="ER p. 99" /> From the bridge's 1909 opening, the space under the Manhattan approach was used as a food market.<ref name="p277896828" /> The food market was renovated in 1933<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and was later converted to a sign shop and garage.<ref name="p277896828" /> By the 1970s, the space under the Manhattan approach was used by the Department of Highways.<ref name="nyt-1977-08-04" /> New York City Center's Cinematheque leased space under the Queensboro Bridge in 1973,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> although the Cinematheque never opened due to a lack of money.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> A developer proposed the open-air Bridgemarket under the bridge in 1976, which local residents significantly opposed,<ref name="nyt-1976-01-19" /> and Bridgemarket was not approved until 1996.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Bridgemarket, covering Template:Convert,<ref name="Dunlap 1999" /><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> opened in 1999 at a cost of $24 million.<ref name="Dunlap 1999" />Template:Efn-lr The store operated until the end of 2015.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In February 2020, it was announced that Trader Joe's was planning to open a supermarket in this space,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which opened in December 2021.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

There is a massive bronze lamppost at the end of the Manhattan approach, near the intersection of Second Avenue and 59th Street.<ref name="Zimmer 2012 s486" /><ref name="CBS New York 2012 y283" /> 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.<ref name="The New York Times 2001 w416">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Each lamppost had five tiers of decorations, and the sides of each lamppost were inscribed with the names of four of the city's five boroughs.<ref name="Weaver 2015 h048" /> The lampposts were both removed in 1974 when the Roosevelt Island Tramway was developed, but the 59th Street lamppost was restored two years later.<ref name="Weaver 2015 h048" /><ref name="Jamerson 2015 y087" /> Parts of the other lamppost were found in a Queens warehouse in 2012<ref name="Zimmer 2012 s486">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="CBS New York 2012 y283">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and rededicated on Roosevelt Island in 2015.<ref name="Weaver 2015 h048">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Jamerson 2015 y087">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• 59thstbridge2007.jpg

  Looking east from Manhattan toward Queens

• Bridgemarket north side jeh.jpg

  Bridgemarket on Manhattan side

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Rodale, Inc. p. 77">Template:Cite magazine</ref> During the marathon, which happens every November, runners cross the Queensboro Bridge westbound toward Manhattan, then pass under the bridge at First Avenue.<ref name="Society Society 2008 p. 121">Template:Harvnb</ref> The bridge is approximately Template:Convert 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.<ref name="Rodale, Inc. p. 77" /> The bridge is also part of the course of the Five Boro Bike Tour, which occurs every April; contestants traverse the bridge eastbound toward Queens.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Template:As of, the Five Boro Bike Tour uses the northern upper-level roadway.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Development

Planning

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.<ref name="n133321693">Template:Cite news</ref> Benjamin Henry Latrobe first proposed a masonry bridge between Manhattan and Queens in 1804.<ref name="STRUCTURE magazine 2015 d973">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Family Magazine published an article in 1833, suggesting a bridge between Manhattan and Queens over Roosevelt Island (which then was known as Blackwell's Island).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> An architect named R. Graves proposed a three-span suspension bridge linking Manhattan to Long Island City. Queens, in the late 1830s.<ref name="Society Society 2008 p. 13">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="STRUCTURE magazine 2015 d973" /> John A. Roebling, who would later design the Brooklyn Bridge, proposed suspension bridges at the site in 1847 and 1856.<ref name="STRUCTURE magazine 2015 d973" />

Rainey attempts

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.<ref name="Society Society 2008 p. 13"/><ref name="p278774250">Template:Cite news</ref> This group was led by Thomas Rainey, a doctor from Astoria.<ref name="n133722053" /> The crossing would have connected 77th Street in Manhattan and 34th Avenue in Queens, passing over the center of Blackwell's Island.<ref name="Society Society 2008 p. 13"/> The New-York and Long Island Bridge Company appointed commissioners for the proposed bridge in 1875<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and hosted an architectural design competition for the bridge in 1876.<ref name="STRUCTURE magazine 2015 d973" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A cantilever design by Charles Macdonald and the Delaware Bridge Company was selected in early 1877,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but no action had been taken by 1878, a year after the plans were approved.<ref name="n133720976">Template:Cite news</ref> Media sources reported in May 1881 that work was to commence shortly,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and a cofferdam for one of the bridge's piers was installed that month.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> By the time the United States Congress approved plans for the bridge in 1887,<ref name="n133722053">Template:Cite news</ref> Rainey's bridge had been relocated southward.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A state justice found in 1890 that the bridge's charter was invalid.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web

}}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Nonetheless, Rainey's efforts to build the bridge made his name "a household word in western Long Island".<ref name="n135292602">Template:Cite news</ref>

File:Queensboro Bridge 1908 LOC 3c00105u.jpg

Bridge seen from Manhattan, c. 1908

By the 1890s, Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) president Austin Corbin had merged Rainey's plan and a competing plan.<ref name="The New York Times 2023 i117">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> Rainey resubmitted plans for the bridge in early 1890.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The state legislature gave Rainey a charter for the Blackwell's Island Bridge in mid-1892.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Corbin received an option to buy out Rainey's charter,<ref name="p574687307">Template:Cite news</ref> and a groundbreaking ceremony for the bridge was held at 64th Street in Manhattan on August 19, 1894.<ref name="n134814941">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The span was planned as a cantilever bridge carrying four LIRR tracks, as well as roadways and footpaths.<ref name="n134814941" /><ref name="The New York Times 2023 f692">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> By that November, two cofferdams were being sunk for the bridge's piers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Laborers began constructing foundations for another pier on the eastern shore of Blackwell Island in April 1895.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Stone and steel contracts had been awarded by the following year, and two of the piers had been built above the water line.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Construction was halted after the piers were built,<ref name="n134871305">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> first due to lawsuits, then because of Corbin's death.<ref name="p574687307" />

Post-unification approval

Manhattan and Queens were merged into the City of Greater New York in 1898,<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> spurring alternate plans for a bridge between Manhattan and Queens.<ref name="p879753651">Template:Cite magazine</ref> New York Assembly members proposed separate bills in early 1898 to revoke Rainey's franchise for the bridge<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and to have the city purchase Rainey's franchise.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Rainey vowed not to sell his franchise,<ref name="p574687307" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but the state legislature passed a bill in March 1900 allowing the city to take over Rainey's franchise.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Although Rainey himself eventually consented to the city's takeover of his franchise,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> mayor Robert Anderson Van Wyck wanted to build a new bridge in a slightly different location.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

A New York state senator introduced legislation in early 1897 to permit the development of a bridge between Manhattan and Queens;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the unified city government was to pay for the bridge.<ref name="p879753651" /> At a meeting in Long Island City in February 1898, a group of men from both boroughs were appointed to consider plans for the bridge.<ref name="n135292602" /> By late 1898, Queens residents were threatening to not vote for the Democratic Party (of which Van Wyck was part) if the construction of the bridge did not begin shortly.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The city allocated $100,000Template:Efn-lr for preliminary surveys and borings for the Blackwell's Island Bridge, as well as the Williamsburg Bridge between Manhattan and Brooklyn, at the end of 1898.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In early 1899, R. S. Buck published plans for an asymmetrical cantilever bridge connecting Queens with Manhattan;<ref name="p278774250" /> the early plans called for a utilitarian design.<ref name="The New York Times 2002 j597" /> The New York City Bridge Department's chief engineer finalized plans for the bridge in October 1899.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Coler drew up a plan for a tunnel between Queens and Manhattan via Blackwell's Island;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> he claimed that the tunnel would cost $1.9 million, while the bridge would cost $13 million.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn-lr The Board of Aldermen appropriated $1 millionTemplate:Efn-lr for the bridge at the end of 1899.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> State assemblyman Edward C. Brennan proposed a bill in January 1900 to appoint commissioners for a bridge or tunnel between Manhattan and Queens.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The city's Municipal Assembly initially failed to authorize the bridge's construction due to opposition from Tammany Hall politicians.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The bridge was approved that November; the bridge was relocated southward so its Manhattan end was near 60th Street.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The United States Department of War, which had to certify the plans for the bridge before any work could begin,<ref name="p570905934">Template:Cite news</ref> approved the span's construction in February 1901.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Initially, the crossing was referred to as East River Bridge No. 4;<ref name="n134908111">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="p910589327">Template:Cite magazine</ref> the Board of Aldermen voted to officially rename it the Blackwell's Island Bridge in March 1902.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Construction

Pier construction and proposed modifications

R. S. Buck and his assistants were directed to prepare plans for the sites of the bridge's piers, anchorages, and foundations.<ref name="n134908111" /><ref name="p910589327" /> The Department of Bridges received bids for the foundations in June 1901, with Ryan & Parker as the low bidder.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Groundbreaking took place that September.<ref name="p126873067" /> After Seth Low was elected as the city's mayor in late 1901, he promised that work would continue, even though the city's new bridge commissioner, Gustav Lindenthal, wanted to temporarily halt construction.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Lindenthal narrowed the bridge from Template:Convert.<ref name="p571246864">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The modifications would allow the city to save $850,000<ref name="The New York Times 1902 m831">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Efn-lr while allowing the city to build toll booths, as well as stairs and elevators to Blackwell's Island, within these piers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> To compensate for the reduced width, a Template:Convert upper deck would be built.<ref name="The New York Times 1902 m831" /> By January 1902, only $42,000 had been spent on the project.<ref name="p126873067" />Template:Efn-lr

In June 1902, a subcommittee of the New York City Board of Estimate requested another $5 million for construction.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn-lr The same month, Lindenthal ordered Ryan & Parker to stop working on the bridge, but the firm refused to comply with his order,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> saying they would lose large amounts of money if work were halted.<ref name="p571246864" /> Lindenthal submitted the modified plans to the Municipal Art Society for approval but withdrew them that July,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and he also allowed Ryan & Parker to continue constructing the piers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Lindenthal decided to significantly modify his plans.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Queens residents strongly protested any design changes,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and Lindenthal finally agreed not to change the bridge's width.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> By mid-1902, Lindenthal was requesting an additional $3.78 million for the bridge's completion.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn-lr In October, a special committee recommended that Lindenthal's plans be rejected, saying that it would cost the city more if construction were halted and that two other East River bridges were also about 120 feet wide.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> City comptroller Edward M. Grout, meanwhile, wanted workers to divert their efforts to the Manhattan Bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Low appointed a group of engineering experts that November to review Lindenthal's revised plans.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The experts concluded that neither the original proposal nor Lindenthal's revision were sufficient and suggested that the bridge instead be Template:Convert wide.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The approaches retained their original 120-foot width,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> as did the piers themselves.<ref name="n135219221">Template:Cite news</ref> Henry Hornbostel was directed in early 1903 to prepare drawings of the bridge's towers and roadway,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> though no architectural contract had been awarded yet.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By mid-1903, the piers were two-thirds completed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The bedrock under the Queens side of the bridge was very close to the ground, so work on the piers in Queens was able to proceed more rapidly than work on the other piers.<ref name="n134965012" /> The Board of Estimate appropriated an additional $3.86 million for the bridge's construction in July 1903.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn-lr Low rejected a plan for widening 59th Street to serve as the bridge's Manhattan approach,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and Queens residents disagreed over plans for the Queens approach.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The final plans called for the Queens approach to end at Crescent Street; a new boulevard, Queens Plaza, would connect the approach to Jackson Avenue and Queens Boulevard.<ref name="n135270495">Template:Cite news</ref> All of the piers were finished by May 1904,<ref name="p571537619" /><ref name="n134969352" /> and city officials inspected the bridge's piers that July.<ref name="n134967934" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Initial work on superstructure

The Pennsylvania Steel Company submitted a bid to construct the bridge's superstructure for $5.3 million in September 1903;Template:Efn-lr Lindenthal rejected the bid, suspecting that the company was engaging in collusion.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The city requested further bids for the superstructure the next month,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but an injunction prevented Lindenthal from awarding a steel contract.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The Pennsylvania Steel Company received the steel contract that November,<ref name="p886559212">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and the Art Commission approved plans for the bridge's spires the same month.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Just before Lindenthal left office, the city received bids for four elevator towers and two powerhouses for the bridge at the end of 1903;<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> the powerhouses were to supply the elevators.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> These elevators were to be positioned within the ends of the piers, which would make it impossible to widen the piers at a later date.<ref name="n135219221" /> City corrections commissioner Francis J. Lantry opposed the elevators because they would allow prisoners on Blackwell's Island to escape.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In early 1904, Lindenthal's successor George Best canceled plans for ornamentation on the bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The Pennsylvania Steel Company was obligated to complete the superstructure by the beginning of 1907,<ref name="n135219221" /> and it submitted drawings for the construction of the superstructure in mid-1904.<ref name="n134969352" /> Later that year, Best postponed construction of the bridge's elevators and power houses,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the city authorized another $400,000 for the bridge's construction.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn-lr Local merchants protested the postponement of the elevators, saying it would not save money.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Before work on the superstructure began, workers erected seventeen temporary Template:Convert bents between the two piers on Blackwell's Island.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> When the bents were almost complete, ironworkers organized a sympathetic strike in June 1905, in solidarity with striking workers at the Pennsylvania Steel Company's Harrisburg factory.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The work stoppage lasted a month,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> during which workers were not allowed to complete steel castings for the bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By that August, over Template:Convert of steel castings had been completed, and another Template:Convert of castings were being fabricated.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> There was not enough material to begin constructing the superstructure.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> There were so few workers on site, a local group estimated that the bridge would not be completed for fifty years.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Work on the superstructure began later in 1905.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> By that November, workers had erected part of a steel tower atop the pier on the western side of Blackwell's Island; at the time, the media anticipated that Template:Convert of steel would be erected every month.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The first steel span, that above Blackwell's Island, was completed at the beginning of 1906.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> After the Blackwell's Island span was finished, the falsework was moved to Manhattan and Queens, and the westernmost and easternmost spans were built atop the falsework.<ref name="p126851307" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> At that point, the city government had acquired much of the land for the approaches.<ref name="n135271386">Template:Cite news</ref> The bridge's construction was delayed when the Housesmiths' Union went on strike that January.<ref name="n135271386" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Unions representing other trades refused to join the strike,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the Pennsylvania Steel Company had replaced the striking workers by that May.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The strike delayed construction by four months.<ref name="n135290784">Template:Cite news</ref> City officials condemned a Template:Convert strip of land for the Queens approach viaduct in October 1906.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Progress on superstructure and approaches

The city's Bridge Commission received bids for the construction of a steel approach viaduct in Queens in December 1906, and the Buckley Realty Construction Company submitted a low bid of $798,000.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn-lr Work on the Queens approach began in February 1907.<ref name="n135293066" /> By then, about Template:Convert of steel for the bridge, representing nine-tenths of the steel contract, had been manufactured.<ref name="n135290784" /> Workers erected 512 tons of steel each day.<ref name="The New York Times 1908 p752" /> To erect the two spans across the East River's west and east channels, they first built steel towers above each pier, then constructed the cantilever arms from each tower toward the center of the river.<ref name="p126851307" /> As such, the bridge was essentially built in three sections in Manhattan, Blackwell's Island, and Queens.<ref name="The New York Times 1908 c100">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; Template:Cite news</ref> By early 1907, the cost of acquiring land for the approaches had increased to $6 million, double the original estimate, and the cost of the entire bridge had increased to as much as $18 million.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn-lr Snare & Triest submitted a low bid of $1.577 million for the construction of the Manhattan approach that May,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn-lr and work on that approach began that July.<ref name="n135293066" />

After the collapse of the similarly designed Quebec Bridge in mid-1907, engineers said they had no concerns about the Blackwell's Island Bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The steel towers above both of the Blackwell's Island piers had been completed and were being painted.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> That September, some beams at the eastern end of the bridge were blown into the river during a heavy windstorm.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The same month, Maryland Steel Company submitted a low bid of $758,000 for a steel-and-masonry approach in Queens.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn-lr Several buildings in Long Island City, including rowhouses and an old homestead, were demolished for the Queens approach.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The easternmost steel span was well underway by the end of 1907,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and work on the steel towers on the Manhattan and Queens waterfronts began that December.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> At the time, the bridge was more than 70 percent complete.<ref name="n135293066">Template:Cite news</ref> Although Manhattan residents supported widening 59th Street to serve as the bridge's Manhattan approach, the city's controller was opposed.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The project continued to experience labor disputes, such as in early 1908, when disgruntled workers tried to destroy the Blackwell's Island span with dynamite.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Completion

File:Blackwell's Island Bridge, ca. 1907.jpg

Constructing the upper level in 1907

The Manhattan and Blackwell's Island sections of the bridge were riveted together on March 13, 1908,<ref name="The New York Times 1908 c100" /> and the Blackwell's Island and Queens sections were linked on March 18.<ref name="p895736043">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite magazine</ref> The Board of Aldermen appropriated another $1.2 million for the bridge's completion shortly afterward; the project had cost $6.2 million up to that point.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn-lr The New York City Department of Finance's chief engineer began investigating the bridge in May 1908 in response to concerns over its structural integrity,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> as the bridge was similar to the collapsed Quebec Bridge, and the plans had been modified after the contract for the superstructure had been awarded.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; Template:Cite news</ref> That June, the Board of Estimate authorized $30,000 for two investigations into the bridge's safety.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn-lr The Pennsylvania Steel Company formally completed the superstructure on June 16, 1908, eighteen months behind schedule.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The Department of Bridges began receiving bids that July for paving and electrical equipment,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the approach viaducts were completed on August 17.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The city refused to pay Pennsylvania Steel until 1912, when a judge forced them to do so.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>

Businessmen proposed renaming the crossing as the Queensboro Bridge in September 1908, saying the Blackwell Island name was too closely associated with the island's hospitals and asylums.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Despite several Irish-American groups' objections that the Queensboro name resembled a British name,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> it stuck.<ref name="The New York Times 2002 j597" /> The structural engineers tasked with studying the bridge concluded that it was structurally sound,<ref name="p886559212" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nyt-1908-11-06">Template:Cite news</ref> although the bridge was altered to carry two elevated tracks rather than four.<ref name="nyt-1908-11-06" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> There was still skepticism over the bridge's structural integrity,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and the Bridge Department planned to remove some heavy stringers from the upper deck to reduce the bridge's dead load.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Paving of the bridge's decks was completed in January 1909.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In total, the crossing had cost about $20 million, including $12.6 million for spans and over $5 million for land acquisition.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn-lr One newspaper had estimated that 55 workers had been killed during construction.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Operational history

Opening and 1910s

In February 1909, the Celebration Committee set June 12 as the bridge's official opening date,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and two grand parades were planned for the bridge's official opening.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; Template:Cite news</ref> The lights on the bridge were first turned on March 28,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the bridge opened to the public two days later on March 30, 1909.<ref name="p144906008" /><ref name="open">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="p572216360" /> The upper deck's tracks were not in service because engineers had deemed them unsafe for use.<ref name="p572216360" /> The Queensboro Bridge formally opened as scheduled on June 12, 1909;<ref name="The New York Times 1909 s113">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> at the time, it was the fourth-longest bridge in the world.<ref name="open" /> The grand opening included a fireworks display, a parade lasting several hours,<ref name="The New York Times 1909 s113" /> a "Queen of the Queensboro Bridge" beauty pageant in a local newspaper,<ref name="p278774250" /> and a week of carnivals.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

During late 1909, the Williams Engineering and Contracting Company sued the city for damages relating to the unbuilt elevators on Blackwell's Island,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and there was another lawsuit over its safety.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Tolls on the bridge were abolished in 1911.<ref name=nyt19110719a/> A bridge approach between Second and Third avenues in Manhattan was proposed in 1913,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and plans for elevated rapid transit on the upper level were approved at the same time.<ref name="n138185084">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> By that year, the bridge carried 29 million people a year (compared to 3.6 million during 1909).<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Horse-drawn vehicles made up almost 30 percent of the bridge's total vehicular traffic in the early 1910s, which dropped to less than 2 percent within a decade.<ref name="p1113078518">Template:Cite news</ref>

In mid-1914, engineers devised plans to add two subway tracks to the lower level and replace the existing roadway with a pair of Template:Convert roadways on the upper and lower levels.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The upper roadway would have connected to Van Alst Avenue (21st Street) in Queens;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> one company proposed constructing the deck in 18 months.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The subway plans were ultimately dropped in favor of the 60th Street Tunnel.<ref name="The Evening World 1914" /> In early 1916, the New York City government allocated $144,000 for repairs to the roadway,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn-lr as it had never been repaved and was full of holes and ruts.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A new foundation was installed to slow down the decay of the wooden pavement.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Simultaneously, the city's Public Service Commission had approved the construction of connections between the bridge's upper-level tracks and the elevated lines at either end.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Elevated service across the bridge commenced in July 1917,<ref name="n138184072">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and the entire repaving project was nearly done later that year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

1920s to 1940s

By the early 1920s, one hundred thousand people a day used the span,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the Queensboro Bridge and the other East River bridges were rapidly reaching their vehicular capacity.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> One count in 1920 found that an estimated 18,000 motor vehicles used the bridge daily,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> while another count in 1925 found that 45,000 vehicles used the span in 24 hours.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Proposals to relieve traffic on the bridge included a ferry from Manhattan to Queens;<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nyt-1925-08-21">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> larger signs pointing to existing ferries;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> a parallel bridge;<ref name="nyt-1925-08-21" /> and a parallel tunnel (later the Queens–Midtown Tunnel).<ref>Template:Cite news; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Traffic on the bridge more than doubled from 1924 to 1932, though the opening of new vehicular crossings caused congestion to increase less rapidly after 1932.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> By the mid-1930s, the bridge handled an average of 110,000 vehicles daily.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> When the Queens–Midtown Tunnel opened in 1940, The New York Times predicted it would relieve congestion on the Queensboro Bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

1920s modifications and new roadway

The Manhattan approach viaduct was repaired in 1920,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and city officials began adding a concrete pavement to the bridge in mid-1924.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Engineers determined at the time that a hard-surfaced roadway would be too heavy for the bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Queens borough president Maurice E. Connolly said the weight of trucks had caused the steel buckle plates under the pavement to break,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> though the commissioner of the city's Plant and Structure Department said the bridge was still safe and that stronger plates were being installed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In addition, Manhattan borough president Julius Miller proposed a plaza and a new approach road at the Manhattan end in 1924,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and he submitted plans to acquire property for the plaza and road later the same year.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Miller revised his plans in 1925, calling for a tunnel under Second Avenue and a new street east of the avenue between 57th and 63rd streets.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> To alleviate congestion, one of the bridge's lanes was used as a reversible lane during peak hours.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In late 1926, Plant and Structure commissioner Albert Goldman proposed adding three vehicular lanes and removing the bridge's footpaths;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="n138259820" /> the proposal also called for new approaches at either end and relocation of the elevated tracks.<ref name="n138259820">Template:Cite news</ref> The Merchants Association<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the Fifth Avenue Association endorsed this plan.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Board of Estimate allocated $150,000 for improvements to the bridge in April 1927,<ref>Template:Cite news; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn-lr and the board approved the $3 million plan that June.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn-lr The project was delayed due to difficulties in acquiring property,<ref>Template:Cite news; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the city controller's office contemplated abandoning plans for the new approaches.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In late 1928, the Board of Estimate allowed construction to commence on both the new lanes and the approach viaducts at either end.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> To reduce congestion, the Manhattan ends of the upper and lower roadways were Template:Convert apart, while the Queens ends of these roadways were about Template:Convert apart.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Real-estate developers supported the project because it would encourage real-estate and business activity in Queens.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Fire extinguishers and chemical carts, for fighting small fires, were also installed on the bridge in 1928.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Goldman publicized his plans for the southern upper roadway in April 1929,<ref>Template:Cite news; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the T. H. Reynolds Company had been hired to move the elevated tracks by the next month.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Bersin Construction Company received a contract for the new roadway in August 1929<ref>Template:Cite news; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; Template:Cite news</ref> and started construction the same month.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> A contract for the Queens approach viaduct was awarded to Bersin-Ronn Engineering Corporation in April 1930.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; Template:Cite news</ref> The upper roadway was substantially completed by early 1931;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> it opened that June and carried only eastbound cars.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> By then, the bridge was carrying almost 100,000 vehicles a day.<ref name="p1114185333" /> A new footpath was also constructed on the south side of the upper level<ref name="p1114185333">Template:Cite news; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but was not opened with the upper roadway.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Initially, the upper deck had a wood, granite, and asphalt pavement.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It contained grooves for motorists' tires, preventing them from changing lanes; after drivers complained about damaged tires, the grooves were first widened,<ref>Template:Cite news; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> then infilled by September.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; Template:Cite news</ref>

1930s and 1940s modifications

To reduce congestion, one civic group suggested a plaza at the bridge's Manhattan end in the early 1930s,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> while Manhattan's borough president Samuel Levy proposed building an underpass to carry traffic on Second Avenue beneath the Manhattan end of the bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Precipitation had begun to corrode the bridge's steel supports, as the masonry work had never been completed;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> this prompted a grand jury investigation into the bridge's safety in 1934.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Additionally, in mid-December of that year, the roadway was designated as part of New York State Route 25 and New York State Route 24 when those designations were extended.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1934, westbound motorists began using the upper southern roadway during weekday mornings, Sundays, and holiday evenings; the upper roadway continued to carry eastbound traffic at all other times.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> To reduce congestion, traffic agents began controlling traffic at each end of the bridge in July 1935,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and lane control lights for the lower level's reversible lanes were installed later the same year.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>

The bridge's wooden pavement also posed a hazard during rainy weather<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and made the bridge one of the city's most dangerous roadways by the mid-1930s.<ref name="n133327304">Template:Cite news</ref> This prompted local groups to call for the installation of a non-skid pavement.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Workers repaved the upper level in early 1935<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and began installing an experimental concrete-and-steel pavement on the lower level that April.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> City officials also contemplated adding an asphalt-plank pavement to the bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Works Progress Administration (WPA) laborers began repaving the lower level in March 1936;<ref name="p1330813117" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The city government also planned to add lane markings to the lower roadway and convert the upper roadway permanently into a one-way road.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> After delays caused by material and labor shortages,<ref name="p1330813117">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the repaving of the lower level was completed in June 1937.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> WPA laborers also completed the tops of the bridge's towers.<ref name="p1250464082">Template:Cite news</ref> WPA workers began rebuilding the upper level pavement in July 1938,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the upper roadway closed that October,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> reopening two months later.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>

File:QBB pinacle 5BBT jeh.JPG

During the Five Boro Bike Tour in 2008

By 1942, the city government was planning to shutter and dismantle the Second Avenue Elevated tracks across the Queensboro Bridge;<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> the line closed in June 1942,<ref name="p1266856712">Template:Cite news</ref> and it was demolished by the end of the year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> There were also plans in the mid-1940s to connect the bridge's Queens terminal with an expressway running to the John F. Kennedy International Airport.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The City Planning Commission proposed rebuilding the Manhattan end of the bridge in late 1946<ref name="nyt-1946-12-05">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and adding an eight-story parking garage above the approach viaduct.<ref name="nyt-1949-05-18">Template:Cite news</ref> This proposal was postponed due to a lack of money.<ref name="nyt-1946-12-05" /><ref name="n138916180">Template:Cite news</ref> The bridge was repainted in 1948,<ref name="n138916180" /> and a $12 million renovation of the bridge was announced the next year.<ref name="p1327492208">Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn-lr The plan included two extra lanes on the upper level, new pavement, a bus terminal in Manhattan,<ref name="nyt-1949-05-18" /><ref name="p1327492208" /> and cloverleaf ramps at the Manhattan approach.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The city government was concurrently planning the Welfare Island Bridge, which would allow people to access Welfare Island without needing to use the Queensboro Bridge's elevator.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>

1950s and 1960s

Officials installed fences in 1951 to prevent jaywalking at the Manhattan approach,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and the city's parking authority contemplated erecting a parking garage west of the bridge's Manhattan terminus the same year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Public Works commissioner Frederick H. Zurmuhlen announced that October that his office was preparing plans for the northern upper roadway,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and he petitioned the city government for $6.5 million for the new roadway.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn-lr By the next year, plans for the roadway and its Manhattan approach were complete,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and workers were demolishing buildings to make way for the roadway's Manhattan approach.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Zurmuhlen requested $8.2 million from the city in 1953 for the construction of the roadway;Template:Efn-lr in exchange, he dropped plans for a bus terminal at the Manhattan end of the bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The bridge's approaches were repaved in 1954.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>

The Board of Estimate allocated $7.7 million in June 1955 for the construction of the northern upper roadway and approach ramps.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn-lr With the opening of the Welfare Island Bridge that year,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the city shuttered the trolley lanes, mid-bridge station, and stairs to Roosevelt Island,<ref name="concrete126">Template:Harvnb</ref> and it also planned to close down the bridge's elevators.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The last trolley traversed the bridge in April 1957,<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and the elevators and stairs on the Queens side of the bridge were closed the same month,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> although the elevator in Roosevelt Island would not be demolished for 13 years.<ref name="U.S. Government Printing Office 1998 p. 95" /> The Queens approach ramps were also rebuilt, accounting for over two-thirds of the project's cost.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Thomson Avenue ramp was completed first, followed by the ramp to 21st Street in late 1957.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The northern upper roadway opened in September 1958,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and the bridge was formally rededicated in April 1959 for its 50th anniversary.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1958, Consolidated Edison proposed converting the lower-level trolley tracks into vehicular lanes in exchange for permission to install power cables under the bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Consolidated Edison spent $4 million in 1960Template:Efn-lr to install power cables, convert the trolley tracks, and construct slip roads between the lower-level roadways.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The new lanes, on the northern and southern sides of the bridge, opened on September 15, 1960.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The same year, Manhattan borough president Louis A. Cioffi proposed a $2.06 million ramp at the Manhattan end of the bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn-lr Also during the early 1960s, the city's Department of Public Works requested funding for a feasibility study of additional roadways,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the city's traffic commissioner Henry Barnes studied the feasibility of a computer-controlled traffic monitoring system for the bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1964, the NY 24 designation was removed from the road deck, leaving a solo NY 25 to do so.<ref>Template:Cite map</ref><ref>Template:Cite map</ref> That same year, mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. approved the demolition of several buildings for a proposed underpass connecting the bridge's westbound lanes with Second Avenue in Manhattan.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Had the underpass been built, a bus terminal and landscaped plaza would also have been erected at the Manhattan end of the bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> These plans were scrapped due to a lack of funding.<ref name="nyt-1976-01-19">Template:Cite news</ref> City planner Robert Moses proposed a 1,000-space parking garage at the bridge's Manhattan end in 1965, though Barnes objected to the plan.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Instead, Barnes proposed a 1,100-spot garage on the Queens side,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> which was approved in June 1966.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The bridge was repainted for seven months starting in November 1966 at a cost of $240,000.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn-lr Between 1968 and 1970, officials commissioned five studies of Queensboro Bridge traffic, but no changes were made as a result.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

1970s to 1990s

Landmark status and deterioration

During the early 1970s, a small terminal for express buses was also proposed for the Manhattan end of the bridge, but it was not built.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="n98607720">Template:Cite news</ref> It was the second East River bridge to be so designated, after the Brooklyn Bridge.<ref name="n98607720" /> The Board of Estimate delayed ratification of the landmark designation because some space under the bridge's approaches was used for commercial purposes.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The northern lower-level roadway was closed in 1976 while the wires underneath the deck were being replaced.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

By the mid-1970s, as the city government considered an open-air market under the bridge,<ref>See: Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="n133319392">Template:Cite news</ref> a city engineer described the bridge as severely deteriorated.<ref name="n133319392" /><ref name="p923100586">Template:Cite news</ref> Among the issues cited were extensive rusting, faulty expansion joints, clogged drains, potholes, and dirt.<ref name="p923100586" /> 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".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

1970s and 1980s renovations

File:Queensboro Bridge from above.jpg

The bridge as seen from the 56th floor of the Citigroup Center

The state government started inspecting the Queensboro Bridge and five others in 1978,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> allocating $1.1 million for a study.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> That year, the city government also repainted the bridge<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> in a brown and tan color scheme.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> To reduce congestion, a contraflow lane for express buses was installed at the Manhattan end of the bridge in 1979.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> That year, the lower deck's outer lanes were closed to vehicles;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nyt-1979-08-07">Template:Cite news</ref> parts of the outer roadways had weakened to the point that they could barely carry the weight of a passenger car.<ref name="n133320572">Template:Cite news</ref> Repairs to the outer lanes were expected to last for three years<ref name="n133320572" /> and cost $50 million.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The southern outer roadway was converted into a pedestrian and bicycle path,<ref name="nyt-1979-08-07" /><ref name="n133320572" /> which opened in July 1979.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The city received $18.6 million in federal funds for the Queensboro Bridge's restoration in 1980.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By then, an estimated 175,000 vehicles daily used the bridge.<ref name="n133321693" />

An extensive renovation commenced on February 25, 1981,<ref name="p1469993383">Template:Cite news</ref> and was completed in six phases.<ref name="Society Society 2008 p. 68"/> That December, the United States Department of Transportation gave $28.8 million for the bridge's renovation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The pedestrian and bike path closed in May 1983.<ref name="n133327304" /> 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.<ref name="nyt-1983-07-07" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The northern upper roadway, normally used by westbound traffic. was converted to eastbound-only operation, except during weekday mornings when it carried westbound traffic.<ref name="nyt-1983-07-07">Template:Cite news</ref> The ramp leading from 57th and 58th streets to the southern upper roadway was temporarily closed for reconstruction in early 1984.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By the beginning of 1985, the southern upper roadway had reopened<ref name="p1469993383" /> after being rebuilt for $31 million.<ref name="The New York Times 1988" /> The outer lanes of the lower level had also reopened, but state officials estimated that the project would not be complete until 1992.<ref name="p1469993383" />

The Queensboro Bridge's pedestrian path reopened in July 1985;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the same year, the city received another $60 million in federal funds for the renovations of the Queensboro, Manhattan, and Brooklyn bridges.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref name="Hevesi 1987" /> As part of the $42 million project, a new concrete deck would be installed, and the steel structure would be restored.<ref name="Hevesi 1987">Template:Cite news</ref> The ramps to 62nd and 63rd streets closed in October 1987<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and reopened twelve months later.<ref name="The New York Times 1988">Template:Cite news</ref> This closure coincided with the renovations of other East River bridges.<ref name="n133332273">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The lower-level bike path was opened to vehicular traffic at peak times,<ref name="n133332273" /> and flatbed trucks carried bicycles across the bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The lower deck's southern outer roadway was closed for emergency repairs in 1988 after workers discovered severe corrosion.<ref name="n133332273" /> The reconstruction of the upper deck was completed in 1989 for $100 million.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The bridge was still in poor condition: during a tour of the bridge in 1988, transportation engineer Sam Schwartz peeled off part of one of the bridge's beams with one hand.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

1990s renovations

File:Queensboro Bridge from East River Greenway.jpg

Queensboro Bridge at dusk, as seen from East River Greenway in Manhattan, 2020

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) proposed a rail link to LaGuardia and JFK airports in 1990;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the line, which would have used the Queensboro Bridge, was canceled in 1995.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A renovation of the Queensboro Bridge's lower level began in June 1990, when two Manhattan-bound lanes were closed.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This phase of construction was supposed to cost $120 million.<ref name="p278370206" /> The lower deck's partial closure caused severe congestion in Queens, since part of the nearby Long Island Expressway was also closed for renovation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By 1993, the renovation was slated to be completed the next year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Manhattan-bound HOV lane opened in April 1994,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and all lower-level lanes had reopened by that October.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The NYCDOT announced in 1995 that it would spend another $161 million to renovate the outer lower-level roadways starting the following year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Two lanes were again closed for maintenance from April to September 1996, causing severe congestion.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Following complaints from residents near 57th Street,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref name="p278956052">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Kennedy 1996">Template:Cite news</ref> 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,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but the new traffic pattern was implemented anyway.<ref name="p278956052" /><ref name="Kennedy 1996" />

In the late 1990s, the NYCDOT hired architect Walter Melvin to renovate the vaults under the Manhattan approach.<ref name="The New York Times 1996 i504" /> During the renovation of the main span, a scaffold collapsed in 1997, killing a worker.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The renovation of the northern lower roadway was completed in mid-1998.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The NYCDOT's commissioner called the changes an "interim fix for nine to 14 months".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By then, about 184,000 vehicles used the bridge daily, with slightly more eastbound than westbound vehicles using the bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

2000s to present

File:EdKochBdge 20231017 094700.jpg

Southern lower roadway and Long Island City from the Queensboro Bridge

Following the completion of additional renovations in September 2000, the northern upper roadway was converted back to a westbound road at all times. The northern lower roadway was converted into a bike and pedestrian path, while the southern lower roadway became an eastbound lane.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001, drivers without passengers were temporarily banned from using the bridge during rush hours.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The city announced plans in 2002 to restore six masonry piers supporting the bridge.<ref name="The New York Times 2002 j597" /> 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,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Bloomberg postponed the tolling plan in 2003.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

As part of a $168 million project that began in 2004,<ref name="Bridge Report 2006">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Rp workers repainted the bridge.<ref name="p279974075">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> They also added fences and lighting, restored a trolley kiosk on the Manhattan end of the bridge, and restored the Manhattan approach<ref name="p279974075" /> in a separate project between 2003 and 2006.<ref name="Bridge Report 2006" />Template:Rp The renovation was temporarily halted in October 2005 after a small fire.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A group of Roosevelt Island residents requested in 2007 that the city government install an elevator or stairway from the bridge, but city officials expressed multiple concerns with the proposal, including security vulnerabilities, the need to close a lane of traffic, and the bridge's landmark designation.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In March 2009, the New York City Bridge Centennial Commission sponsored events marking the centennial of the bridge's opening.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The American Society of Civil Engineers designated the bridge as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark the same year.<ref name="asce" />

The bridge was renamed after Ed Koch in 2011.<ref name="NYTimes-QboroRenaming-2011" /> After a series of fatal crashes in 2013, officials closed the southern lower roadway at night.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By the middle of the decade, the bridge carried 175,000 daily vehicles, making it the East River's busiest bridge.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Mayor Bill de Blasio announced plans in April 2016 to allocate $244 million for repairs to the Queensboro Bridge's upper deck.<ref name="Matua 2016 c754">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Concurrently, elected officials proposed adding tolls to the bridge yet again.<ref name="Matua 2016 c754" /> In January 2021, the city decided to install a two-way protected bike path on the northern lower roadway and convert the southern lower roadway to a pedestrian path.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The conversion was delayed because of a renovation of the upper deck,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which commenced in February 2022 and required the partial closure of vehicular lanes.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The city presented designs for the pedestrian and bike paths in mid-2024.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The paths were supposed to open in March 2025, but the opening was postponed by mayor Eric Adams,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> ultimately occurring that May.<ref name="Russo-Lennon u449">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Public transportation

File:Queensboro Bridge trolley station jeh crop.jpg

The former trolley stop which served the Queensboro Bridge from 1909 to 1957

Rail service

Rapid transit

The bridge, built with two elevated railway tracks on its upper level,<ref name="n138184072" /> had space for two more tracks.<ref name="SA p. 101" /> A connection from the Interborough Rapid Transit Company's Second Avenue Elevated to the bridge was first proposed in 1910;<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> early plans called for a line extending to Malba.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The elevated tracks were approved in 1913,<ref name="n138185084" /> and the connection opened in 1917, allowing Second Avenue trains to access the Astoria and Flushing lines.<ref name="n138184072" /> The tracks carried elevated trains until service was discontinued in 1942.<ref name="p1266856712" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; Template:Cite news</ref>

There were also plans to run a New York City Subway line across the bridge in September 1909;<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> in a report submitted to the New York City Board of Estimate in June 1911, the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company was to extend its Broadway Line onto the bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> By December 1914, the Board of Estimate had abandoned the proposal, which would have required $2.6 million in modifications to the bridge<ref name="The Evening World 1914">Template:Cite news</ref> and would have caused serious congestion.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Instead, the board proposed the double-tracked 60th Street Tunnel under the East River, which would allow the city to save $500,000.<ref name="The Evening World 1914" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The New York Public Service Commission approved the tunnel in July 1915.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1990, the MTA proposed an airport rail link running via the bridge to JFK and LaGuardia airports.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This plan was scaled down in 1995, becoming the AirTrain JFK, which serves a small part of Queens.<ref>Template:Cite NY2000</ref>

Streetcars

The bridge had streetcar tracks occupying the northern and southern lower roadways.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref name="The New York Times 1998 d767">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Six streetcar companies had applied for franchises to use the bridge by late 1908, before its official opening.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The first trolleys traveled on the bridge in September 1909,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and passenger service began the next month.<ref name="n138181867">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> In the bridge's first decade, the tracks were used by the New York and Queens County Railway,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Manhattan and Queens Traction Company, Steinway Lines,<ref name="Roberts 2020 c119">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Third Avenue Bridge Company.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> When the Third Avenue Railway started using the bridge in 1913, it built power infrastructure under the roadway, as its streetcars received power from underground.<ref name="NYERA-QnsboroBridgeTrolley-2009">Template:Cite journal</ref> The South Shore Traction Company also applied for permission to use the bridge but was denied.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; Template:Cite news</ref>

A streetcar stop was constructed at the middle of the bridge in 1919 to serve the elevator to Roosevelt Island.<ref name="n138203161" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The tracks connecting the Third Avenue Railway with the Queensboro Bridge were removed in 1922, after the company stopped using the bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Although almost all streetcar service had been withdrawn by 1939,<ref name="NYERA-QnsboroBridgeTrolley-2009" /> the Queensboro Bridge Local route ran across the bridge until April 7, 1957;<ref name=":0" /> it was the last trolley route in New York state.<ref name="p1325116113">Template:Cite news</ref>

Streetcar lines on the bridge

Line name	Borough primarily served	Start year	End year
Queensboro Bridge Local	Queens	1909<ref name="n138181867" />	1957<ref name="p1325116113" />
Astoria Line	Queens	1910<ref name="NYERA-QnsboroBridgeTrolley-2009" /><ref name="n10380716">Template:Cite news; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || 1939<ref name="columbia.edu l357">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Steinway Line	Queens	1910<ref name="NYERA-QnsboroBridgeTrolley-2009" /><ref name="n10380716" />	1939<ref name="NYERA-QnsboroBridgeTrolley-2009" />
College Point Line	Queens	1910<ref name="NYERA-QnsboroBridgeTrolley-2009" /><ref name="n10380716" />	1925<ref name="columbia.edu l357" />
Corona Line	Queens	1910<ref name="NYERA-QnsboroBridgeTrolley-2009" /><ref name="n10380716" />	1922<ref name="columbia.edu l357" />
Queens Boulevard Line	Queens	citation	CitationClass=web }}; Template:Cite news</ref> || 1937<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
42nd Street Crosstown Line	Manhattan	1912<ref name="NYERA-QnsboroBridgeTrolley-2009" />	1919<ref name="NYERA-QnsboroBridgeTrolley-2009" />

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.<ref name="The New York Times 1998 d767" /> The kiosks also had Greek key motifs; shields with garlands; and ornamental brackets.<ref name="The New York Times 2003 d367">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The locations of three kiosks are unknown.<ref name="The New York Times 2003 d367" /> Another kiosk was sent to the Brooklyn Children's Museum in 1974,<ref name="The New York Times 2001 w416" /> then was relocated to Roosevelt Island and renovated into a visitor center.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Roosevelt Island kiosk, which reopened in July 2007,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> measures Template:Convert across and weighs Template:Convert.<ref name="Zimmer 2012 s486" /> Yet another kiosk remains in place in Manhattan but is used as storage space.<ref name="The New York Times 1998 d767" /> The remaining kiosk in Manhattan was planned to be removed in 2002<ref name="The New York Times 2003 d367" /> but was instead restored.<ref name="p279974075" />

Buses

File:Queensboro Bridge New York October 2016 003.jpg

Queensboro Bridge at night

The bridge carries three local bus routes operated by MTA Regional Bus Operations: the Template:NYC bus link, and Template:NYC bus link. The bridge also carries 20 express bus routes in the eastbound direction only: the Template:NYC bus link, and Template:NYC bus link, which all use the Queens-Midtown Tunnel for westbound travel.<ref>Template:Cite NYC bus map</ref>

Elevator to Roosevelt Island

An elevator from the bridge to Roosevelt Island (then known as Blackwell's Island) was proposed in October 1912.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Although various groups opposed an elevator in the middle of the bridge's deck because it would block traffic,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> an elevator next to the deck was tested the next month.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Board of Estimate provided $366,000 in 1916Template:Efn-lr for an elevator building connecting the bridge to Roosevelt Island.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The building, on the bridge's north side, was finished in 1918<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> or 1919.<ref name="concrete126" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The building was nine<ref name="Society Society 2008 p. 67">Template:Harvnb</ref> or ten stories tall and had two passenger and three freight elevators.<ref name="n138203161">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="p124682587">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The structure was set back from the bridge to reduce damage in a fire.<ref name="Society Society 2008 p. 67"/> The top floor was connected to the bridge by a roadway measuring Template:Convert wide; there was also a stair and a guard's booth.<ref name="p124682587" /> The other nine floors contained various food storage rooms.<ref name="p124682587" /><ref name="Society Society 2008 p. 67"/>

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.<ref name="Roberts 2020 c119" /> The elevator was demolished in 1970, having been replaced by the Roosevelt Island Bridge.<ref name="U.S. Government Printing Office 1998 p. 95">Template:Cite book</ref> A separate passenger elevator ran during weekdays<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> to Welfare Island, via a storehouse described as "clean but gloomy", until mid-1973.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Tolls

There was originally a ten-cent toll to drive over the bridge,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> although pedestrians walked across for free.<ref name="NYT">Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Tolls on 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.<ref name=nyt19110719a>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> There were also proposals to charge tolls on the bridge in the 1930s, which were heavily opposed by local groups,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and in the 1950s, which was rejected as overly expensive.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1970, the federal government enacted the Clean Air Act, a series of federal air pollution regulations.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> As part of a plan by mayor John Lindsay and the federal Environmental Protection Agency,<ref name="NYT 1977 mayor yields">Template:Cite news</ref> the city government considered implementing tolls on the four East River bridges, including the Queensboro, in the early 1970s.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The plan would have raised money for New York City's transit system<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and allowed the city to meet the Clean Air Act.<ref name="NYT 1977 mayor yields" /> While there were concerns that the bridge's city-landmark designation could prevent tollbooths from being installed,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> planners said the tollbooths could just be installed on the bridge's approaches.<ref name="n98607720" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Specifically, a tollbooth would have been installed on the bridge's Manhattan approach.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Queens borough president Donald Manes encouraged the state government to take over the bridge so tolls could not be charged;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> according to Manes, the tolls would merely increase pollution around Queens Plaza.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Abraham Beame, who became mayor in 1974, refused to implement the tolls,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the U.S. Congress subsequently moved to forbid tolls on the East River bridges.<ref name="NYT 1977 mayor yields" />

A plan for congestion pricing in New York City was approved in mid-2023,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> allowing the MTA to toll drivers who use the Queensboro Bridge and then travel south of 60th Street.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Nessen 2024 t852">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Congestion pricing was implemented in January 2025;<ref name="Anderson o055">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Drivers on the northern upper roadway are exempt from the toll, but all other Manhattan-bound drivers pay a toll, which varies based on the time of day.<ref name="Nessen 2024 t852"/> Although no toll is charged upon exiting the congestion zone, all Queens-bound drivers must pay a toll to access streets leading to the bridge, even if they drive only one or two blocks within the congestion zone.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Impact

Reception

When plans for the bridge were being finalized in 1901, there was commentary on its cantilevered design; all of the other bridges across the East River at the time were suspension bridges. The city's bridge commissioner at the time, John L. Shea, said that the Queensboro Bridge would not be as "picturesque" compared to a suspension bridge but that it could look as attractive as either the Williamsburg or Brooklyn bridges. Buck said that the U.S. had some "homely" cantilever bridges but hoped the Queensboro Bridge was not ugly.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The chief engineer of the city's Bridge Department said in 1904 that he believed the cantilever design was "a mistake" and that a suspension bridge on the same site, supported by three towers, would have been a novelty.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

When the bridge was finished in 1908, The Christian Science Monitor wrote that the Queensboro was "one of the greatest bridges in the world, and one of the most beautiful of its type", despite having received relatively little media attention during construction.<ref name="p507939040" /> Two decades after the bridge opened, The New York Times said the "Brooklyn Bridge has the reputation but Queensboro Bridge has the traffic".<ref name="nyt-1959-03-28">Template:Cite news</ref> The New York Daily News wrote in 1981 that the Queensboro Bridge "reminds people of the bridges they built with erector sets as children".<ref name="n133321693" /> Nonetheless, the bridge was not as widely appreciated as the Brooklyn Bridge further south, especially in the late 20th century,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and The Los Angeles Times wrote in 2010 that "the Queensboro appears far grittier than the romantic Brooklyn Bridge or the soaring Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to the south".<ref name="Susman 2011 u996" />

Impact on development

The New-York Tribune wrote in 1904 that the Queensboro Bridge's construction would cause Blackwell's Island to "lose at least a share of its sinister reputation".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Even before the bridge was completed, real-estate values in Queens had been increasing several times over,<ref name="n135270495" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and its construction also spurred the sale of property along 59th Street in Manhattan.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Its development allowed various parts of Queens to be served by direct train and streetcar lines to Manhattan.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="n136012035">Template:Cite news</ref> The Brooklyn Daily Eagle predicted in 1908 that the bridge's completion would draw investors toward Long Island and away from New Jersey to the west.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The same newspaper predicted that the bridge, along with the Steinway Tunnel and East River Tunnels, would change Long Island from a sparsely populated rural outpost to a densely packed suburb of New York City.<ref name="n136012035" /> A New York Times article from 1923 wrote that the bridge's opening "marked the first step in eliminating the East River as a barrier to the spread of population eastward".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The opening of the bridge encouraged development of vacant land in Queens, where tracts were resold for residential and commercial use.<ref name="p278774250" /> Many industrial firms began operating in western Queens,<ref name="p278774250" /> including vehicle-manufacturing plants in Long Island City.<ref name="n133321693" /> By the early 1910s, numerous industrial structures and loft buildings had been built around the bridge's Queens end, particularly on Queens Plaza.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Further east, neighborhoods such as Jackson Heights were built on former farmland.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Queensboro Chamber of Commerce's spokesperson said in 1924 that real estate values in Queens had tripled within 15 years of the bridge's opening, while the population grew from 284,000 to 736,000.<ref name="p1113078518" /> At the bridge's 50th anniversary, The New York Times credited the bridge with encouraging industrial and residential development in Queens.<ref name="nyt-1959-03-28" /> Newsday wrote in the 1990s: "More than any other development, the Queensboro Bridge created the modern urban borough of Queens."<ref name="p278774250" /> The completion of the Queensboro Bridge inspired what became Queens Boulevard, although the thoroughfare was not finished until 1936.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Media

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.<ref name="n133321693" /> For example, the title of Simon & Garfunkel's 1966 song "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)" refers to the Queensboro Bridge,<ref name="n133326018" /><ref name="NYT" /> and it has been mentioned in media such as F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel The Great Gatsby.<ref name="Susman 2011 u996" /><ref name="NYT" /> The bridge has been the setting or filming location for several movies, such as Manhattan (1979),<ref name="Susman 2011 u996" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Spider-Man (2002)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and The Dark Knight Rises (2012).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

See also

• List of bridges and tunnels in New York City
• List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in New York
• List of bridges and tunnels on the National Register of Historic Places in New York
• List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan from 59th to 110th Streets
• List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Queens
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan from 59th to 110th Streets
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Queens, New York

References

Notes

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Sources

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External links

• NYCDOT.gov
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