Fly Over Iconic New York City Bridges

Fly Over Iconic New York City Bridges

Since four of New York City’s five boroughs are on islands (only the Bronx is attached to mainland New York State), you’d expect the city to have a number of bridges – but few people realize that New York City bridges actually number over 2000! (That figure comes from the New York Department of Transportation – and yes, it’s 2000 … 2027, to be exact.) Many of these New York bridges are quite small and/or not for public use, but a number of iconic New York City bridges can be seen while you’re enjoying a helicopter tour above Manhattan.

The first recorded bridge crossing in New York was in 1693, across the King’s Bridge that connected Manhattan and the Bronx – don’t go looking for that historic New York City bridge, since it was demolished in 1917. New York’s wide variety of bridges can accommodate cars, trucks, trains, pedestrians and bicycles. Ten New York bridges have been awarded landmarks status One of them, the Queensboro Bridge, carries the largest amount of weekday traffic. This New York City bridge was immortalized in the poster from the 1979 Woody Allen film “Manhattan” and a 1970 song by Simon and Garfunkel , “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)” – although the bridge itself is never mentioned in the lyrics.

Fly Over the Brooklyn Bridge

The Brooklyn Bridge is the oldest New York bridge that is open to passengers or vehicles. When the Brooklyn Bridge opened in 1883, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world. (It lost that honor to the Williamsburg Bridge, also in New York, in 1903 – currently eight New York City bridges, including the Brooklyn Bridge, rank in the top 100 of the world’s longest suspension bridges.) Its original name was the New York and Brooklyn Bridge and it was also referred to as the East River Bridge, but in 1915 this iconic New York City bridge was formally named the Brooklyn Bridge. Connecting Manhattan to Brooklyn via the East River, the Brooklyn Bridge has six lanes for motor vehicles, and in the middle, a separate walkway for pedestrians and bicycles is elevated a bit above the vehicle lanes. Since its gala 100th anniversary celebration in the 1980s, the Brooklyn Bridge has been floodlit at night to highlight its neo-Gothic architectural features.

Fly Over the Manhattan Bridge

The Manhattan Bridge crosses the East River and connects downtown Brooklyn to Canal Street in Manhattan’s Chinatown neighborhood. This New York bridge was opened to traffic on December 31, 1909 and currently has seven lanes for motor vehicles – four on the upper level, three on the lower level. The lower level also features four subway line tracks, a walkway and a bicycle lane. The Manhattan side of this New York City bridge has an elaborate entry arch and colonnade which were completed in 1915. After nearly a century of wear and neglect, this iconic Manhattan Bridge entry was repaired and restored in 2000. The now-gentrified neighborhood on the Brooklyn side of the Manhattan Bridge is known by the odd acronym DUMBO, which stands for District Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass.

Fly Over New York City’s George Washington Bridge

The George Washington Bridge, which opened in 1931, crosses the Hudson River and connects upper Manhattan to New Jersey, is considered to be the busiest vehicular bridge the world – more than 100 million motor vehicles cross this New York bridge every year. There are 14 traffic lanes on the George Washington Bridge (known familiarly to New Yorkers as “the GW”) – four lanes in each direction on the upper level and three in each direction on the lower level. There are also two pedestrian/bicycle lanes on the upper level. This iconic New York bridge got its name because both its New York and New Jersey locations are near the sites of fortified positions used by George Washington during the Revolutionary War. Weather permitting, on certain public holidays and dates honoring the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the George Washington Bridge proudly displays the world’s largest free-flying American flag. It’s 90 feet (27 meters) long and 60 feet (18 meters) wide – if you’ve scheduled a helicopter tour on one of those days, this sight will certainly be a highlight of the trip!