Three Bridges Walk-Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg

Last November I joined a group meet-up to walk across the three bridges that connect Manhattan and Brooklyn. Often referred to as BMW, the three bridges are the Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge and Williamsburg Bridge. Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges are near each other while Williamsburg is a little bit further. You can see the bridges in this photo I took while riding the ferry to Governors Island last year, even if only the towers of Williamsburg is visible.

The group met at the Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall station subway stop which is right across the pedestrian entrance of the bridge. I previously wrote about walking across Brooklyn Bridge. It's always great to walk across the bridge, even if it was slightly raining when we started our walk that day.

There are a lot of love locks on the bridge. I like the colored ones with the names printed, sometimes some of them even have designs of the bridge on the locks.

A close-up of the bridge's overhead cable wires doesn't show the repair works being done which is expected to last until middle of this year. The cable wires always make a great picture of the Brooklyn Bridge.

As we neared the exit on the Brooklyn side, I saw this sweet sign.

After reaching Brooklyn, we walked just a few blocks to start the walk on our second bridge for the day, the Manhattan Bridge. Its pedestrian walkway has great views of the Brooklyn Bridge. I could see the whole bridge and a very foggy lower Manhattan.

This was my view looking up at one of the towers of Manhattan Bridge.

There are lots of graffiti on Manhattan Bridge. I could not even read the bridge data and names of those involve in the building of the bridge as the marker is full of graffiti.

 

As we neared the Manhattan side of the bridge, I could see more graffiti on many of the buildings in the Two Bridges neighborhood.

Soon we reached the Manhattan end of the bridge which is marked by the Manhattan Bridge Arch and Colonnade.

In 1910, a year after the bridge opened, the architectural firm Carrère and Hastings drew up preliminary plans for an elaborate grand entry to the bridge on the Manhattan side, as part of the "City Beautiful" movement. Construction began that year, and plans were finalized in 1912. The arch and colonnade were completed in 1915. The decoration includes pylons which were sculpted by Carl A. Heber and a frieze called "Buffalo Hunt" by Charles Rumsey.

That Manhattan end is in Chinatown. We walked several blocks in the neighborhood to get to the Williamsburg Bridge pedestrian entrance which is in Clinton and Delancey Streets. Along the way we passed by many of its business establishments and also its fire department, the Chinatown Dragon Fighters.

We also passed by and stopped at Seward Park as some wanted to use the restroom facilities. A short walk around the park perimeter led me to a statue of Togo, the lead sled dog of Leonhard Seppala and his dog sled team in the 1925 serum run to Nome across central and northern Alaska.

Then we were on our way to the Manhattan entrance of the Williamsburg Bridge.

Here's the group walking in the light rain across the bridge.

Looking up from pedestrian walkway, I saw one of the bridge's towers.

There are also a lot of street art as we neared the Williamsburg end of the bridge. I like this American flag formed with car doors. Very original!

We also passed by this huge mural by twin brothers How & Nosm.

Our walk ended at the Brooklyn Flea Market where we bought lunch. Upon arriving, I saw this huge artwork Queen Mother of Reality by Pawel Althamer.

The Brooklyn Flea is located inside the East River State Park which has great views of Manhattan, especially on clear days. However, by the time we arrived rain has fallen steadily and the fog over Manhattan has thickened. When I look across the East River, some of the buildings were no longer visible.

After lunch I bade my leave from the group and boarded the East River ferry to go to Brooklyn Bridge Park. The ferry ride gave me a great view of the Williamsburg Bridge.

When I got to Brooklyn Bridge Park, lower Manhattan looked hauntingly beautiful covered in fog.

It wasn't as foggy in Brooklyn looking at the Watchtower building.  I can still see the numbers on the LED clock.

I walked a little bit at the park and when I looked out the New York harbor, Lady Liberty was a very faint outline in the thick fog.

I proceeded at the back of the park's Pier 1 to walk across the Squibb Park Bridge, which opened in March 2013.

If you walk across Squibb Park Bridge, you may notice a little bounce in your step. The bridge was designed with trail bridge technology and is meant to be lightweight and flexible like the trail bridges in our state and national parks. So whether you’re a first timer or returning visitor of the Squibb Park Bridge, expect an extra pep in your step and know that this is completely normal and part of the design. 

The bridge offers a great view of lower Manhattan, as well as the beautiful vegetation of the park.

I could also see more construction work going on. I know when all the work is done, Brooklyn Bridge Park will be one of the city's best parks.

I finally made my way back to Pier 1, lower Manhattan was still shrouded in fog,

I also dropped by the area at the park where visitors often leave love locks.

Then it was time to head home. One last look at the park near Jane's Carousel with Manhattan still covered with heavy fog.

It was also foggy at Manhattan Bridge, to think we were just walking there earlier.

At the start of our walk across Manhattan Bridge, I saw artwork along some of the walls and promised myself to look into it. I learned that the artwork are part of Dumbo Walls.

Using brick walls as canvas, international artists transform DUMBO’s streetscape with works by CAM, DALeast, Eltono, Shepard Fairey, Faith47, MOMO, Stefan Sagmeister, and Yuko Shimizu. - See more at: http://dumbo.is/itineraries/667#sthash.MP1x9SSP.dpuf

The DUMBO Improvement District has teamed up with Two Trees Management to bring art to the blank brick walls underneath the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Called "DUMBO Walls", the installation brings eight world-renowned artists to the Kingsborough, transforming disused space into an outdoor gallery.

Artists CAM, MOMO, Stefan Sagmesiter, Yuko Shizimu, Shepard Fairey, Eltono, and Faith 47 added their signature styles to the walls with colorful, semi-permanent murals. Visitors can marvel at the outdoor art exhibition, which traverses the walkway near the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges. Each of the eight murals signify the debut of the DUMBO Walls project, which hopes to transform other areas in DUMBO into an open air exhibition space.

I like the owls at the Bar and Grill Park by CAM.

And the reindeer by DALeast at the BQE Underpass on Pearl Street.

All of the murals are really good, I've placed the photos in a separate album on Flickr - Dumbo Walls

That was a great walk even if it was raining and foggy. 

This is just a rough illustration of the paths we took on the Three Bridges walk but I'm posting this map to give you an idea where I walked that day.

For the rest of my photos, here are the albums on Flickr:

Three Bridges Walk

Brooklyn Bridge Park

Dumbo Walls

DALeast

Pearl Street (BQE Underpass)

sing brick walls as canvas, international artists transform DUMBO’s streetscape with works by CAM, DALeast, Eltono, Shepard Fairey, Faith47, MOMO, Stefan Sagmeister, and Yuko Shimizu. - See more at: http://dumbo.is/itineraries/667#sthash.MP1x9SSP.dpuf

Using brick walls as canvas, international artists transform DUMBO’s streetscape with works by CAM, DALeast, Eltono, Shepard Fairey, Faith47, MOMO, Stefan Sagmeister, and Yuko Shimizu. - See more at: http://dumbo.is/itineraries/667#sthash.MP1x9SSP.dpuf

Battery Park to Brooklyn Bridge Park (Part 2)

This is a continuation of my previous blog, a walk from Battery Park up to Brooklyn Bridge Park. Part I covered my walk from Battery Park up to the subway at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge pedestrian path and this Part 2 will cover my walk from the pedestrian pathway of the bridge up to Brooklyn Bridge Park. I ended Part 1 with a picture of an old BB subway art so I will start Part 2 with another BB subway art, this time the modern version.

At the starting point of the Brooklyn Bridge pedestrian walkway are two blocks embeded on the path containing the history of the bridge. Here's the first one:

You can read the second block here.

Brooklyn Bridge is currently under repair which is expected to last until 2014. Upon entering the bridge the corrugated sheets installed as part of the repainting and rehabilitation work on the bridge are hard to miss.

I can clearly see the year 1875 embedded on the tower as I approached it. It's the year the two bridge towers were completed.

By the bridge towers are etchings of the history of the bridge construction.

The cable arrangement of the bridge forms a distinct weblike pattern, which makes it a good candidate for picture taking. You just have to be patient though, as there is always a lot of pedestrian traffic.

Brooklyn Bridge also has its share of love locks, the rest of my other love locks pics are on Tumblr.

I love the love locks, but seeing some sort of defilement on the bridge made me somewhat sad. I hope this can be cleaned soon.

Still, it was a great day for a walk, I can see the beauty of the bridge towers when I look up.

And across the East River is a view of midtown Manhattan with the Empire State Building lording over all the buildings.

On the other side, the view is that of Lady Liberty holding her torch aloft for all to see.

Looking down from the pedestrian walkway, I can see the vehicle traffic whizzing past.

There are lots of plaques on the bridge towers and this one is especially dedicated to Emily Roebling, who assumed the duties as chief engineer, including day-to-day supervision and project management of the bridge when her husband Washington Roebling was stricken with caisson disease.

Nearing the Brooklyn side of the bridge, I looked down and saw some parts of Brooklyn Bridge Park, the final destination of my walk that day.

Looking back at Manhattan, One World Trade Center, now the highest building in the western hemisphere is towering above all the buildings, followed by Frank Gehry's 8 Spruce Street.

On the ramp leading to the exit are names of places in Brooklyn and their distances from the bridge.

At the bottom of the exit is a directional map embedded on the sidewalk. I wanted to go to Brooklyn Bridge Park so I first had to walk north to go back to the river area and then go west.

On the wall across it is a Welcome to Brooklyn board.

There was a long line of people waiting to buy pizza at Grimaldi's when I passed it on my way to the Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Another famous eatery by the shadow of the bridge is the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, its structure is a converted 1922 fireboat house.

I saw this sculpture from above the bridge and noted that it looked similar to some of Mark di Suvero's art pieces in Governors Island, which I wrote about in a previous blog. I later learned it was by di Suvero, and is entitled Yoga.

The other side of the park has awesome views of the Manhattan Bridge and the lower east side of Manhattan across the river.

Near the bridge is the Tobacco Warehouse, constructed in the 1870s as a tobacco customs inspection center but is now used to hosts events and community activities. There is a plan to convert the space into a performance place but I agree with Gothamist that the abandoned open-air space is gorgeous just the way it is.

Also at the park is Jane's Carousel, the first carousel ever listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Brooklyn Bridge Park is now home to an historic and beautifully restored carousel, a gift of Jane and David Walentas.  Built in 1922 by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company, the carousel was purchased in 1984 and painstakingly restored to its original condition.  The carousel is located in the Empire Fulton Ferry section of Brooklyn Bridge Park, housed in an extraordinary new pavilion, designed by Pritzker-prize winning architect Jean Nouvel. The carousel will be operated year-round for the enjoyment of children of all ages.

It was nearly sundown when I made my way to the nearest subway station. As I was looking at Manhattan Bridge, I saw that its tower supports perfectly framed the Empire State Building which was glowing in the light of the setting sun.

I'll be back Brooklyn Bridge Park! I haven't explored the whole area and I know I missed a lot of things with the limited time I had, but I'm happy I got to enjoy the park even for just a short time. 

Until we meet again Brooklyn Bridge!

For the rest of my pics during this walk, here's the album on Flickr - Battery Park to Brooklyn Bridge Park