Queensboro Bridge

The upper level of the bridge has four lanes of automobile traffic, consisting of two roadways with two lanes in each directions. It provides a view of the bridge's cantilever truss structure and the New York skyline. Although the two upper level roadways both end at Thomson Avenue on the Queens side (with ramps to the Queens side), they diverge in opposite directions on the Manhattan side. The two lanes to the north, normally used by westbound traffic, lead to 62nd and 63rd Streets. The two lanes to the south, normally used by eastbound traffic, lead to 57th and 58th Streets. The southern roadway is used as a westbound high-occupancy vehicle lane during morning rush hours, when all eastbound traffic uses the lower level.[15]

The lower level has five vehicular lanes, the inner four for automobile traffic and the southern outer lane for automobile traffic as well, used exclusively for Queens-bound traffic. The North Outer Roadway was converted into a permanent pedestrian walk and bicycle path in September 2000.[16]

The Manhattan approach to the bridge is supported on a series of Guastavino tile vaults which formed the elegant ceiling of the former Food Emporium Bridge Market and the restaurant Guastavino's, located under the bridge. The inclusion of the space was part of Hornbostel's attempt to make the bridge more hospitable in the city.[17] The space under the Manhattan approach measures 120 by 270 feet (37 by 82 m) across[18][19] and is divided into a series of tiled vaults measuring 30 by 30 feet (9.1 by 9.1 m) across. As the bridge ascends to the east, the floor slopes down and the ceiling slopes up; as such, the ceiling measures 60 feet (18 m) high at its highest point.[19]

From the bridge's 1909 opening until the 1930s, the space under the Manhattan approach was used as a food market. During the Great Depression, the space was converted to a sign shop and garage.[18] By the 1970s, the space under the Manhattan approach was used by the Department of Highways.[19]

A developer proposed the open-air Bridgemarket under the bridge in 1976, which local residents significantly opposed.[20] Both the New York City Council and the Board of Estimate approved the market in 1977,[21] but a committee of the New York State Assembly blocked the plans.[22] The Bridgemarket plans were revived in 1981;[23] although local politicians supported the project, local residents opposed it.[24] This plan was again modified in 1986[25] and received approval from the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC).[26] Work on Bridgemarket commenced in 1987[18] but was delayed again following local opposition.[27]

Bridgemarket, covering 98,000 square feet (9,100 m²), finally opened in 1999 at a cost of $24 million.[17] The store operated until the end of 2015.[28] In February 2020, it was announced that Trader Joe's was planning to open a supermarket in this space,[29] which opened in December 2021.[30][31]

• 
  Looking east from Manhattan toward Queens
• 
  Bridgemarket on Manhattan side

Bridge seen from Manhattan, c. 1908

Prior to the construction of the Queensboro Bridge, two ferries connected Manhattan and Queens, neither of which were near the modern-day bridge. One such ferry connected Borden Avenue in Hunters Point, Queens, to 34th Street in Kips Bay, Manhattan, while the other ferry connected Astoria Boulevard in Astoria, Queens, with 92nd Street on Manhattan's Upper East Side.[13] Serious proposals for a bridge linking Manhattan to Long Island City were first made as early as 1838, and attempts to finance such a bridge were made by a private company beginning in 1867. Its efforts never came to fruition and the company went bankrupt in the 1890s.[32]

Successful plans finally came about in 1903 – after the creation in 1898 of Greater New York City through the amalgamation of Manhattan (New York City), Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island[33] – under the new city's Department of Bridges, led by Gustav Lindenthal, who was appointed to the new position of Commissioner of Bridges in 1902, in collaboration with Leffert L. Buck and Henry Hornbostel, designers of the Williamsburg Bridge. Construction soon began, but it would take until 1909 for the bridge to be completed due to delays from the collapse of an incomplete span during a windstorm, and from labor unrest, which included an attempt to dynamite one span.

The bridge opened for public use on March 30, 1909,[34] having cost about $18 million; fifty workers died during construction.[4] The bridge's ceremonial grand opening was held on June 12, 1909;[35] at the time, it was the fourth longest bridge in the world.[34] The grand opening included a fireworks display.[35] There was a ten-cent toll to drive over the bridge,[36] although pedestrians walked across for free. The bridge was then known as the Blackwell's Island Bridge, from an earlier name for Roosevelt Island.[37] The opening of the bridge encouraged development in Queens, including vehicle-manufacturing plants and other industrial structures in Long Island City.[13]

Constructing the upper level in 1907

The bridge's upper level originally contained two pedestrian walkways and two elevated railway tracks (which connected a spur of the IRT Second Avenue Elevated Line in Manhattan to the Queensboro Plaza station in Queens).[34] Three lanes of roadway were installed on the south side of the upper level in 1931, replacing the former upper-level walkway.[38] All service on the Second Avenue Elevated was discontinued in 1942.[39]

The lower deck originally hosted four motor traffic lanes, and what is now the "outer roadway" and pedestrian walk were two trolley lanes.[34] A trolley connected passengers from Queens and Manhattan to a stop in the middle of the bridge, where passengers could take an elevator or the stairs down to Roosevelt Island.[40] In 1918[41] or 1919, an elevator building called the elevator storehouse was built adjacent to the bridge on the north side located about where the current tram station is to transport cars and passengers to what was then called Welfare Island, now Roosevelt Island. It was known as the "upside-down" building because its main entrance was on the 10th floor, the height of the bridge deck. This now-demolished building provided access to the hospitals on the island.[42][43]

Shortly after the Queensboro Bridge opened, the city government conducted a study and found that it had no authority to charge tolls on the Queensboro and Manhattan bridges.[44] Tolls on all four bridges across the East River—the Queensboro Bridge, as well as the Williamsburg, Manhattan, and Brooklyn bridges to the south—were abolished in July 1911 as part of a populist policy initiative headed by New York City mayor William Jay Gaynor.[45][46]

The lower roadway of the Queensboro Bridge was originally composed of wooden pavers, as the bridge was intended to be used by horse-drawn carriages. With the increasing popularity of automobiles, the bridge became one of the city's most dangerous roads, as vehicles frequently skidded across the wooden blocks on rainy days. Between 1933 and 1936, thirteen people had died in accidents on the bridge, with 679 further injured; this prompted the city to repave the lower deck from 1935 to 1937.[47] By 1936, the bridge handled an average of 110,000 vehicles daily (with 80,000 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.).[48]

During the Five Boro Bike Tour in 2008

From 1955 to 1958, two additional lanes were built on the upper level. The upper-level ramps on the Queens end of the bridge were built during the same time.[49] In addition, the bridge's vehicular elevator closed after the Welfare Island Bridge from Queens opened in 1955, allowing automobile and truck access to Welfare Island and the only non-aquatic means in and out of the island.[43] The Queensboro Bridge trolley line operated until April 7, 1957,[50] and was the last trolley route in New York state.[51] The trolley lanes and mid-bridge station, as well as the stairs, were removed following the trolley's discontinuation.[42] A separate passenger elevator ran during weekdays[52] from near the Queens end of the bridge to Welfare Island, via a storehouse described as "clean but gloomy", until August 1973.[53]

Acting Manhattan borough president Louis A. Cioffi proposed a $2.06 million ramp on the Manhattan side of the bridge in 1960.[54] The same year, Consolidated Edison spent $4 million installing power cables under the former trolley tracks, converting the tracks into vehicular lanes, and installing emergency slip roads between the new lanes and the existing lower-level roadway.[55][56] The new lanes opened on September 15, 1960.[57] The city's Department of Public Works requested $200,000 in 1961 to determine the feasibility of adding more roadways to the Queensboro Bridge,[58] and the city's traffic commissioner Henry Barnes announced the next year that he was considering using computers to monitor traffic on the bridge.[59]

In 1964, mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. approved the demolition of several buildings at the bridge's Manhattan terminus to make way for a $2.6 million underpass connecting the bridge's westbound lanes with southbound Second Avenue.[60] Had the underpass been built, a bus terminal and landscaped plaza would also have been erected at the Manhattan end of the bridge.[61] These plans were scrapped due to a lack of funding.[20] City planner Robert Moses proposed developing a 1,000-space parking garage with offices and a department store at the bridge's Manhattan end in 1965, though Barnes objected to the plan.[62][63] Instead, Barnes proposed a 1,100-spot garage on the Queens side,[64] which was approved in June 1966.[65] The bridge was repainted for seven months starting in November 1966 at a cost of $240,000.[66] Between 1968 and 1970, officials commissioned five studies of Queensboro Bridge traffic, but no changes were made as a result.[67]

In 1970, the federal government enacted the Clean Air Act, a series of federal air pollution regulations.[68] As part of a plan by mayor John Lindsay and the federal Environmental Protection Agency,[69] the city government considered implementing tolls on the four free East River bridges, including the Queensboro, in the early 1970s.[70][71] The plan would have raised money for New York City's transit system[72] and allowed the city to meet the Clean Air Act.[69] Had the tolls been implemented, a tollbooth would have been installed on the bridge's Manhattan approach.[73] Around that time, a small terminal for express buses was proposed for the Manhattan end of the bridge.[74] New York City Center's Cinematheque leased space under the Queensboro Bridge in 1973,[75] although the Cinematheque never opened due to a lack of money.[76]

On November 23, 1973, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) designated the Queensboro Bridge as a city landmark, preventing any modifications without the LPC's approval.[77][78] It was the second East River bridge to be so designated, after the Brooklyn Bridge.[78] While there were concerns that the landmark status could prevent tollbooths from being installed,[79] planners said the tollbooths could just be installed on the bridge's approaches.[78][80] The New York City Board of Estimate delayed ratification of the landmark designation because some space under the bridge's approaches was used for commercial purposes.[81] The tolling proposal was opposed by figures such as Queens borough president Donald Manes, who encouraged the state government to take over the bridge so tolls could not be charged.[82] According to Manes, the tolls would merely increase pollution around Queens Plaza.[83] Abraham Beame, who became mayor in 1974, refused to implement the tolls,[84] and the United States Congress subsequently moved to forbid tolls on the free East River bridges.[69]

By the mid-1970s, as the city government considered an open-air market under the bridge,[21][85] a city engineer described the bridge as severely deteriorated.[85][86] Among the issues cited were extensive rusting, faulty expansion joints, clogged drains, potholes, and dirt.[86] New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) engineering director George Zaimes described the bridge's frame as being rusty, with some holes that were as large as a person's head. According to Zaimes, the upper roadway was only attached to the bridge "by its own weight and memory".[87]

The bridge as seen from the 56th floor of the Citigroup Center

The state government started inspecting the Queensboro Bridge in 1978,[88] allocating $1.1 million for a study.[89] The city government also repainted the bridge[90] in a brown and tan color scheme.[91] To reduce congestion, a contraflow lane for express buses was installed at the Manhattan end of the bridge in 1979.[92] That year, the lower deck's outer lanes were closed to vehicles;[93][94] parts of the outer roadways had weakened to the point that they could barely carry the weight of a passenger car.[95] Repairs to the outer lanes were expected to last for three years[95] and cost $50 million.[96] The southern outer roadway was converted into a pedestrian and bicycle path,[94][95] which opened in July 1979.[97] The city received $18.6 million in federal funds for the Queensboro Bridge's restoration in 1980.[98] By then, an estimated 175,000 vehicles daily used the bridge.[13]

An extensive renovation commenced on February 25, 1981, with between three and six of the bridge's 11 lanes closed at any given time.[99] That December, the United States Department of Transportation gave $28.8 million for the bridge's renovation.[100] The pedestrian and bike path closed in May 1983.[47] The NYSDOT announced that July that the upper level's southern roadway, which carried eastbound traffic, would be closed for repairs, which were expected to take 18 months.[101][102] The northern roadway, normally used by westbound traffic. was converted to eastbound-only operation, except during weekday mornings when it carried westbound traffic.[101] The ramp leading from 57th and 58th Street to the southern upper roadway was temporarily closed for reconstruction in early 1984.[103] By the beginning of 1985, the southern upper roadway had reopened to traffic,[99] having cost $31 million to rehabilitate.[104] The outer lanes of the lower level had also reopened, but state officials estimated that the project would not be complete until 1992.[99]

The Queensboro Bridge's pedestrian path reopened in July 1985;[105] the same year, the city received another $60 million in federal funds for the renovations of the Queensboro, Manhattan, and Brooklyn bridges.[106] In February 1987, the New York City Department of Transportation announced that parts of the northern upper roadway would be closed for two years.[107] As part of the $42 million project, a new concrete deck would be installed, and the steel structure would be restored.[107] The ramps to 62nd and 63rd Street closed in October 1987[108] and reopened twelve months later.[104] This closure coincided with the renovations of other East River bridges.[109][110] To alleviate congestion, the lower-level bike path was opened to vehicular traffic at peak times,[109] and flatbed trucks carried bicycles across the bridge.[111] The lower deck's southern outer roadway was closed for emergency repairs in 1988 after workers discovered severe corrosion.[109] The reconstruction of the upper deck was completed in 1989 at a cost of $100 million.[112] The bridge was still in poor condition: during a tour of the bridge in 1988, transportation engineer Sam Schwartz was able to peel off part of one of the bridge's beams with one hand.[113]

A renovation of the Queensboro Bridge's lower level was to take place between 1990 and 1993.[113]

Starting in 1994, two lanes were reserved during rush hours for carpool traffic.[114] For a brief period in 1997, the traffic directions of the upper-level roadways were reversed during rush hours so that the upper level used a left-hand traffic pattern. Manhattan-bound traffic used the southern roadway while Queens-bound traffic used the northern roadway.[115] After residents of the Upper East Side voiced concerns about severe rush-hour congestion, this traffic pattern was discontinued, and the south-side walkway on the lower level was converted to a Queens-bound vehicular lane during the evening rush hour.[116] The outer roadway was later opened to vehicles at all times, but after a series of fatal crashes in 2013, officials decided to close the ramp during the nighttime.[117]

Queensboro Bridge at dusk, as seen from East River Greenway in Manhattan, 2020

Mayor Michael Bloomberg again proposed tolling the four free East River bridges, including the Queensboro Bridge, in 2002; many local residents opposed his plan.[118] In March 2009, the New York City Bridge Centennial Commission sponsored events marking the centennial of the bridge's opening.[119] The bridge was also designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers during the year of its centennial anniversary.[11] The bridge was renamed after Ed Koch in 2011.[6][7]

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced plans in April 2016 to allocate $244 million for repairs to the Queensboro Bridge's upper deck.[120] In January 2021, the city decided to install a two-way protected bike path on the northern outer roadway of the lower level, to be completed by 2022. The southern outer roadway, which at the time was used by vehicular traffic, would be used exclusively by pedestrians.[121][122] The conversion of the southern outer roadway was subsequently delayed because of a planned renovation of the upper deck.[123] The renovation commenced in February 2022 and was expected to last until December 2023.[124][125]

In addition to the two elevated railway tracks, the bridge also had four streetcar tracks. The following Queens lines operated over the bridge:

• Queensboro Bridge Local, 1909–1957 (last streetcar line in the city)
• Astoria Line (Queens surface), 1910–1939
• Steinway Line, 1910–1939
• College Point Line, 1910–1925
• Corona Line (surface), 1910–1922
• Queens Boulevard Line (surface), 1913–1937

One Manhattan line operated over the bridge, the Third Avenue Railway's 42nd Street Crosstown Line from 1910 to 1950.

The bridge carries the Q32 local bus route operated by MTA New York City Transit and the Q60 and Q101 local bus routes operated by the MTA Bus Company. The bridge also carries 20 express bus routes in the eastbound direction only: the MTA Bus Company's QM1, QM2, QM3, QM4, QM5, QM6, QM10, QM15, QM16, QM17, QM18, QM20, QM21, QM24, QM31, QM32, QM34, QM35, QM36, QM40, QM42 and QM44, and New York City Transit's X63, X64, and X68. (These bus routes use the Queens-Midtown Tunnel for westbound travel.)[126]