Bridging time…

The New York metropolitan area is one of bridges and tunnels. They’re fixtures to the land and waterscape of the region. And the truth is, around here, we have more than our share of downright iconic bridges. The Brooklyn Bridge. The George Washington Bridge. The 59th Street. Tri-Borough (Yeah, I know they call it the RFK, but it’ll still always be the Tri-Borough.) The Tappan Zee. They show up in movies, tv, commercials, advertising and even fine art, some of it over a century old.  And from the water, they’re a constant, as much a part of the skyline as the Palisades Cliffs and the Empire State Building.

I’ve always been fascinated by the history of these architectural wonders. It started with the Brooklyn Bridge – years ago I found myself drawn into David McCullough’s The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge. Politics, scandal, romance, family loyalty – they all played a part in bringing this gothic wonder into being, in a time when horse and buggy/block and tackle/shovels and sweat were the only means of construction, which makes it even more wondrous that this bridge still stands tall and strong over 125 years later.

More recently, I’ve  come to discover I’m working in the footprint of another amazing bridge, so to speak. Though the Tappan Zee Bridge is eleven nautical miles south of Haverstraw Marina, it turns out that the marina owes its existence to the three mile span. In the newsreel video below, at 1:31, you can see the basin that ultimately became the Haverstraw Marina.

But all that engineering for the future seemed to fall short, and the Tappan Zee will never see a centenial celebration like the Brooklyn Bridge. In fact, after years of debate and deliberation, it appears that things are moving ahead on the all-new Tappan Zee Bridge.

 

It should be interesting to watch this newest chapter of history on the Hudson waterfront unfold, and I wonder what changes it will leave on the surrounding landscape.

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