Manhattan Bridges #15, 16 & 17: The Last Chapter

This morning, when it was still dark, I pulled myself out of bed and made myself get ready to ride two of my last three bridges. As soon as it was light enough, I grabbed the bike and was out the door.

For the first time, I took a bike on the subway. I rode the A up to the last stop (to save some time) and then peddled my way over the Broadway Bridge:

Just to be clear, I have actually been over this bridge on foot a couple times on my way to or from Target, but it was the fastest and easiest way to get to the Henry Hudson Bridge.

The Henry Hudson wasn't my favorite bridge. It is short, and not bike friendly. But there are okay views:

And I like that it lets you off in Inwood Hills Park. And that Inwood Hills Park is  roller blade friendly :)

I made it home in enough time to get ready and head to work. And after work, I headed to cross my last bridge - the pedestrian bridge onto Randall's Island:

Waiting on the other side was a warm welcome:

And a fun art installment:

I called my brother and chatted a bit as he was making final preparations to head to the Missionary Training Center tomorrow and I watched the sunset.

What a beautiful way to end the night!

Manhattan Bridges #14: Williamsburg

While I have a hard time picking favorites (or perhaps more accurately, many things are my “favorite” depending on the moment and the context) the Williamsburg Bridge is high on my list of bridges I enjoyed crossing.



 

 

I liked that the train, cars, and pedestrians were stacked rather than all being in line with each other. I like that they had pedestrians and bikers separated for a good chunk of the way.

 

I liked having a view of the train from the raised platform 

There was more graffiti on this bridge than I remember seeing on the others, and some that was pretty fun:

I also liked stopping at Pies’n’Thighs at the end of the bridge to eat dinner.

 

Manhattan Bridges #13: The Manhattan Bridge

One of my former colleague works in Dumbo and we planned to meet up after work one day, which turned into the perfect opportunity for me to walk back to Manhattan via the Manhattan Bridge.

 

 

Garbage can by the bridge entrance - hello fellow Utah fan!





I’ve been over that bridge a number of time on the train, but walking over it was a totally different experience.

In some ways I like it better than walking the Brooklyn Bridge – in large part because you get some awesome views of the Brooklyn Bridge!

 

You can also see the Williamsburg Bridge in the other direction and a rooftop tennis court (say what?!)

 

Plus some exciting graffiti

 

Someone knitted a frame!! 

And, even though I’ve said it before, watching the sunset (or rise) while crossing bridges in and out of the city has been pretty incredible.

 

 

My office building is the whitish tiered building towards the left

The night pics that follow are also pretty awesome:

 

Manhattan Bridges #11 & 12: Triborough (RFK) and Willis Ave

What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than walking from island to island and back again via bridges?

I know how to make it better! Talk to your family while on the journey.

 

That's exactly what I did. After Church, I headed on the cross town bus east on 125th and walked from 2nd Ave over to Randall's Island.



 

While I was crossing the Triborough Bridge, I realized how close the Willis Ave bridge from the Bronx into Manhattan is, and that it ends about where I would get back on the bus to head home.



So, after taking a few pictures:

I headed over another bridge into the Bronx:

My brother told me about his final preparations to go serve a mission for our Church in Germany, and I found some street art indicating others have a testimony of God as well





At the end of the Willis Bridge, there was a great plaque that told me the history of this bridge, which was the first connection by bridge from Manhattan to the Bronx and used to be swing bridge operated by steam power and 6 workers. There was two way traffic on the bridge and there used to be a tram crossing here. Now it is only one way traffic for cars, and two way for bikes and pedestrians.