A Walk Across the Manhattan Bridge

esc2476

For some time I had wanted to walk across the Manhattan Bridge for the views of the Brooklyn Bridge it offers.

For those who do not know, the Manhattan Bridge has two levels of traffic, footpaths on either side (of the lower level) and 4 subway tracks running across it. The thing that makes the bridge a little tricky when taking photos is the fence that runs across it. There is a lower part and an upper part-both of which do not have wide enough spaces for pictures to be taken. The only exception is a gap between the upper and lower spaces which you can fit a lens through. Also adding to the difficulty is the fact that the passing trains shake the bridge rendering any time lapse photos blurry.

So, I went the first week in October (with my camera, tripod, etc) and found the footbridge with the views of the Brooklyn Bridge to be closed for construction. Sometime in early November, my girlfriend's mother was in town. My girlfriend and I live together and I work pretty long hours, so my shooting usually consists of things we do together (which she is very patient about). I knew her and her mom had some activity planned for a Friday night, so I decided to take my walk then.

Here is the footpath. The trains run towards the left.



Here is the train rushing by...



The first views of the Brooklyn Bridge emerge:





The full Brooklyn Bridge sparkles in the cold November air:





The fences-the middle gap wound up being just the right size. I took the subway over the bridge to work which gave me the idea to shoot there and I was trying to guess from the train if the gap was big enough to fit a lens through. Fortunately, it just was (barely):



Another view as I walked closer to Brooklyn-with a moving ferry:





Looking towards the World Trade Center...



As I finished my walk, the bridge crosses over the Brooklyn Queens Expressway (on the Brooklyn side).



C+C Welcome. Thanks for looking

esc2476

The entire gallery is available here: http://www.esc.smugmug.com/gallery/2089641

Andy

Very nice journey!

Tommyboy

Beautiful pictures. Thank you.

esc2476

Andy wrote:

Very nice journey!

Thanks Andy It was a lot of fun.

Have you ever done this before? If you haven't, I certainly recommend it. I want to do a Brooklyn Bridge crossing soon. Also, maybe a trip to the Guwanus (sp?) canal - during the winter. NYC offers so many options.

esc2476

Tommyboy wrote:

Beautiful pictures. Thank you.

Thanks and thanks for looking

BPCooper

Nice series. The third shot, and the one with the moving ferry as described, are my favorites. I haven't walked across there since they opened it, I need to do that...and bring a camera! You've shown me how nice the view is now.

schmoo

Great little trip! I love to see not only the journeys that take weeks or months in a foreign country, but the little everyday ones that sometimes we just need to stop and think about.

Wonderful photos.

Justiceiro

Man, I'm always up for a midnight photosafari, and I live just across the river. I've been thinking about doing another 3AM Chinatown walk soon, let me know if you are interested.