Well-dressed men and women circa 1890, suspended between the city of New York and the city of Brooklyn. Judging by all the smoke in the background, it looks like the camera is facing the Brooklyn side.
At the time this photo was taken, the bridge was only seven years old.
(Photo: B. Merlis)
And if the naysayers had their way, it would never have been built at all. When the “East River Bridge Project” was conceived in 1829, the sentiment was that a bridge would disturb the beauty of New York Harbor and the shipping industry that thrived there.
An editorial in The New York Mirror stated: “The mischief that would ensue, according to our view of the subject, from the erection of a bridge, would be little less than infinite.
“To allow a merchant ship to pass under it without striking her topmasts, it would be necessary to elevate it to not less than one hundred feet above the water. . . . Who would mount over such a structure, when a passage could be effected in a much shorter time, and that, too, without exertion or trouble, in a safe and well-sheltered steamboat?”
Tags: 19th Century New York City industry, Brooklyn bridge, East River Bridge Project, New York Harbor, shipping industry 19th century New York, The New York Mirror
Ephemeral New York 
September 8, 2009 at 10:18 am |
In the 1980s I lived on the Lower East Side and worked in Brooklyn. I’d walk most days to and from work on the Brooklyn Bridge. That walk was still the highlight of my day, and I’d love coming to Manhattan at the start of the evening where you get to view the whole city before you, it was like fresh feeling coming over you that heightened the night before me. Ah, those were the days…
September 8, 2009 at 3:34 pm |
Hard to say, but I think this picture was taken facing toward Manhattan, not Brooklyn. Only reason I say this is because of the shadows cast by the sun. Most times of the day during most times of the year the sun is to your left as you’re walking from Brooklyn to Manhattan, no?
September 8, 2009 at 3:51 pm |
[…] Brooklyn Bridge was regarded by some as an unnecessary eyesore that could prove destructive to shipping in New York Harbor when it was first envisioned as the […]
September 8, 2009 at 3:53 pm |
That sounds right. I was just thinking that Brooklyn had more industry at the time along the waterfront that would produce all that smoke!
September 8, 2009 at 5:42 pm |
[…] old picture of the Brooklyn Bridge, circa 1890. When first conceived in 1829, the East River Bridge Project had many naysayers who […]
September 9, 2009 at 4:19 am |
I am almost finished reading “Great Bridge”. It’s nice to see a photo from that era.
March 9, 2010 at 4:37 am |
Not everyone was so upset… Brooklyn residents had Bridge Street named that years before the bridge was built in a bit of optimistic symbolism.
March 26, 2013 at 4:58 am |
I’m from Harrisburg, PA and my wife–an immigrant from Brazil and soon-to-be proud American citizen next month–just returned from a NYC sojourn.
I must say that the highlight for me, and perhaps my wife, was walking across this magnificent bridge and attending Palm Sunday mass at St.Pat’s. Both were spiritual moments to say the least! Amazing what our beloved country’s pioneers did with so little, eh?
USA!!! USA!!! USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!
February 14, 2020 at 12:00 pm |
[…] towers rising over 90 meters (295 feet) above sea level. This is almost three times higher than editors at the New York Mirror projected in 1829, when they called the brand new “East River Bridge Project” an “absurd and ruinous” […]
February 18, 2020 at 9:43 am |
[…] towers rising over 90 meters (295 feet) above sea level. This is almost three times higher than editors at the New York Mirror projected in 1829, when they called the brand new “East River Bridge Project” an “absurd and ruinous” […]
March 2, 2020 at 8:02 pm |
[…] towers rising over 90 meters (295 feet) above sea level. This is almost three times higher than editors at the New York Mirror projected in 1829, when they called the brand new “East River Bridge Project” an “absurd and ruinous” […]
March 11, 2020 at 8:58 pm |
[…] towers rising over 90 meters (295 feet) above sea level. This is almost three times higher than editors at the New York Mirror projected in 1829, when they called the brand new “East River Bridge Project” an “absurd and ruinous” […]
February 24, 2022 at 4:05 pm |
[…] elevan a más de 90 metros (295 pies) sobre el nivel del mar. Esto es casi tres veces más alto que editores del New York Mirror proyectados en 1829, cuando llamaron al flamante «East River Bridge Project» una propuesta «absurda y ruinosa». […]