March 30, 1909
Serious proposals for a bridge linking Manhattan to Long Island City were first made in 1838. Attempts to finance it were made by The New York and Long Island Bridge Company in 1867. Its efforts failed and the company went bankrupt in 1893. Successful plans finally came about in 1901 under the city's new Department of Bridges, led by Gustav Lindenthal, the Commissioner of Bridges.
Construction lasted for eight years. There were delays, from the collapse of an incomplete span during a windstorm, and from labor unrest (including an attempt to dynamite one span). The bridge, 100 feet wide and 7,449 feet long, opened to the public on March 30, 1909. It cost $20 million, and fifty lives.
In its one hundred year history, the 59th Street Bridge has made numerous pop culture appearances.
For more on the 59th Street Bridge, click here and here.
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