A Really, Really Cool Bridge

The Ward's Island Pedestrian Bridge was proposed by Robert Moses in 1937, because of complaints that there were not enough recreational areas in East Harlem. It was designed by Othmar Hermann Ammann, more famous for designing the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, the George Washington Bridge and assisting with the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco.


The Ward's Island Pedestrian bridge is unique because it is the only bridge across the Harlem River that is only used by foot and bike traffic. The bridge is a Vertical Lift Bridge, which allows the middle section,312 feet long, to rise in order to allow large ships to pass under. This function has also been used to make the bridge inaccessable during the winter and at night. In recent years, it has been closed (or open, depending on how you look at it)from November until April. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find it accessable on Sunday, March 7.


When seen in person, the bridge stands out for two reasons. Number one, it is blue. Second, it looks large, with much of the grandeur of Amman's other projects, but it is only 12 feet wide. Even on a beautiful day, it was not crowded. The few crossing it were on there way to or from the soccer fields on Ward's Island, or jogging. It affords beautiful views of Manhattan, looking south, and of the psychiatric hospital to the north.

The bridge leads to a recreation area far less crowded than Central Park, but as the bridge is not well known, not many take advantage of that apart from scheduled events. Not many people know about it. Kristina, a new School student that has been living in northern Manhattan for two years had never heard of it. I hadn't either, despite it being a five minute ride from my apartment. However, I will be taking advantage of this beautiful bridge, everyone else is missing out.