The Ed Koch Queensboro 59th Street Bridge
After yoga in the park on Saturday, I decided to get back to Manhattan from Queens by walking the Queensboro— or if you're reading this post-2010, the Ed Koch, or if you're feeling groovy, the 59th Street — bridge. It's the fourth bridge I've walked, and the first that hasn't spanned from Manhattan to Brooklyn.
I'd admired it from Roosevelt Island, but I'd never heard much about walking over it. It's certainly not as touristy (or as beautiful) a walk as the Brooklyn, and it doesn't deposit you in a trendy neighborhood like the Manhattan or the Williamsburg, but I loved the walk. It's getting hard to rank the bridges at this point since they have all been so different, but I think I would put it above the Manhattan and tied with the Williamsburg. I've said before that the Brooklyn Bridge will always be my favorite, and I don't see it losing that title anytime soon.
The Queensboro is the longest of the four bridges, with a lengthy (and slightly inclined) approach from Queens before you're even on the actual bridge. I took my time (and approximately six million photos) and there is a lot to see so it's definitely worth it. It's a divided path, Manhattan -> Queens on one side of the line, Queens -> Manhattan on the other. Bikers and pedestrians share the same lane, which I thought would be treacherous but aside from one person yelling at me VERY loudly to signal they were approaching to my LEEEFFFT, it was surprisingly civil.
The side is lined with high fencing, so you never have a clear view, but it feels safer than the Manhattan. The walkway is right next to the car lanes and below and to the side of the subway track. I actually never knew that trains went over the Queensboro until I started taking the N train to yoga on the weekends.
One of the most special parts about the walk is Roosevelt Island. The bridge spans over the island (a car elevator used to deposit you onto RI if you wanted) and offers amazing views of the adorable tram in action. I waited like a bouncy little kid for the perfect tram photo, but if you miss it don't worry — they run pretty frequently along a good portion of the bridge walk.
There are a few locks scattered on the fence, which I haven't seen on other bridges, carved with initials and messages. I wish I would have thought to start doing this to commemorate my bridge walks, although I think it's mainly a love thing. But I really love walking over bridges and New York City, so that counts right? Mallory's big purple lock echoed my thoughts perfectly, but it was the tiny one with the painted initials "R + H" that really got me. Isn't it just the cutest thing?
The approach into Manhattan is pretty spectacular, and as the name implies you're left off right onto 59th street. I definitely recommend walking the bridge from Queens to Manhattan (instead of the other way around) since you're on the fence side, with better views and photo-taking opportunities. I think next I'm going to walk the cute red Roosevelt Island bridge, which is the only way to get to the island on foot (you enter from Queens) or maybe the George Washington bridge. Unfortunately I can't tackle the Verrazano-Narrows anytime soon because it was never built with a pedestrian walkway. Maybe they thought no one would be crazy enough to want to walk one of the world's longest suspension bridges. Although now that I've read that heavy use and deterioration have lead to it being called "New York City's Most Dangerous Bridge," maybe it's a good thing I don't run marathons or take bike tours.
I guess I'm actually running out of bridges to walk, which is kind of a weird problem to have. I like the idea of returning to each one to leave a lock, or maybe I'll try walking each one at night. The Brooklyn is breathtaking all lit up, but is under construction until 2014 which is kind of a bummer. Does anyone know where I can get a few locks engraved with "AC + NY" ?
I'm asking for a friend.