Passage IV

Crossing an Icon

Shortly after its completion in 1883, the recently completed Brooklyn Bridge was dubbed the Eighth Wonder of the World and became a symbol both of American industry, of modernism, and the rise of New York City. (48) They want to cross the bridge because it’s beautiful. And because it’s big. And so they can say, “I did it.” As for me, a native New Yorker, I recently walked across the Brooklyn Bridge for the first time for the same reasons.

Stepping onto the elevated promenade that serves as the bridge’s pedestrian walkway and bicycle path, I began my trek to Brooklyn. Though Frank Sinatra had sang about the bridge’s “lovely views from Heaven,” my first view, consequently, was far from heavenly. Tourists, joggers, cyclists: each were jostling on the promenade, an elevated walkway overlooking the bridge’s six-lane highway. Looking past the crowds and out toward the East River through the bridge’s steel cables made you dizzy.

I began to enjoy the views, for example, as I walked under the Gothic archway of the bridge’s first tower and inched my way to the bridge’s midpoint. Beyond the tourists in their floppy foam Statue of Liberty hats stood the real statue in the harbor. Looking back toward Manhattan, I could appreciate the tininess of the island, a seventeenth-century city bearing the weight of a modern superstructure.

“Watch out!” The warning cry of a speeding cyclist brought my attention back to the promenade, where I had edged into the bicyclists’ lane. (56) Though some tourists near the bridge’s second tower paused to take pictures of the views, the press of the crowd reinforced my desire to keep moving.

[1] Finally, approaching Brooklyn, the cities low quiet architecture came into focus. [2] But I had already crossed it once. [3] Now, at dusk, the lights on the bridge’s cables snapped on. [4] Turning around, I could see the illuminated bustle of Manhattan. [5] Hesitating, I contemplated a return crossing. [6] The bridge was beautiful and definitely an icon. [7] I was taking the subway home. (60)