The Brooklyn Bridge was opened 130 years ago today. To mark the anniversary we've pulled together some choice archival moments from past bridge celebrations. We also felt that it was a good time to reflect on all the links that make New York City greater than the sum its parts. So, the WNYC Archives has unilaterally declared this week in the name of all the areas bridges and tunnels and reached deep within our collections to bring you as many of these connections as possible.

Happy Birthday, Brooklyn Bridge!

Friday, May 27, 2011

The Brooklyn Bridge is celebrating its 128th anniversary this week by undergoing heavy rehabilitation and causing problems for late-night borough-hoppers, a drastic change from its 60th anniversary celebrations, when the Bridge reminisced on WNYC with Public Works Commissioner Irving Huie about its grand opening and the changes it brought to Manhattan and Brooklyn.

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Brooklyn Bridge's Birthday

Thursday, May 22, 2008

The Brooklyn Bridge turns 125 this month, and what started as an epic feat of engineering has taken on the status of top-tier New York City icon. We help mark the date with Francis Morrone, art & architecture critic and columnist for the New York Sun, by spanning the ...

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Object #7: The Brooklyn Bridge

Monday, March 05, 2012

The seventh object on our list violates the central rule of our contest that it “must be able to fit in a museum”—but just this once we’ll make an exception. Richard Haw, a professor at CUNY and author of the book, Art of the Brooklyn Bridge: A Visual History, told us that the bridge is a particularly good selection for this project. “It helps illuminate different parts of the history of the New York: political, economic, demographic, social, transport, technological, literary and artistic.” (continue reading)

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Open Phones: New Bike Tunnel ;-)

Friday, April 01, 2011

On April 1(!) listeners weigh in on the proposal to transform the Holland Tunnel into a bike-only tunnel to be re-named the Charles Schumer Tunnel.

Listeners: What do you think about this bike lane expansion project?

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Inside the City's Ghost Subway System

Tuesday, January 03, 2012

WNYC
The New York City subway system has 842 miles of track, making it the largest in North America. And there's even more to it than riders see: dozens of tunnels and platforms that...

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Please Explain: New York Road (and Bridge, Tunnel, and other Place) Names

Friday, November 11, 2011

Kenneth T. Jackson, Jacques Barzun Professor in History and the Social Sciences at Columbia University, and Lisa Keller, Associate Professor of History at SUNY Purchase, both editors of The Encyclopedia of New York City, second edition, explain who the people behind the names of familiar tunnels, bridges, and expressways are. From the Van Wyck, the Major Deegan, and the Bruckner to the Kosciusco Bridge, the Holland Tunnel to Tompkins Square Park, Washington Heights, and Astoria.

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The Triborough Bridge Renamed after RFK

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

A day before what would have been his 83rd birthday, New York paid a huge tribute to the late senator, Robert F. Kennedy, in concrete and steel. The Triborough Bridge was renamed after the slain senator, in a ceremony at a Queens park at its ...

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Urban Exploration

Monday, May 04, 2009

Built in 1844, the Atlantic Avenue Tunnel is officially the world's oldest subway tunnel. Bob Daimond is founder of the Brooklyn Historic Railway Assocation and conducts tours of the tunnel.

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Koch Feelin' Groovy Over Queensboro Bridge Name Change

Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Ed Koch is getting a 1,400 foot-long present for his 86th birthday. Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed renaming the Queensboro Bridge after the former mayor at Koch's birthday party on Wednesday night.

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Bridge & Tunnel

Friday, December 10, 2010

Listeners weigh in on the "Koch Bridge" and "Carey Tunnel." Who would you name a bridge after? Henry Stern, director of New York Civic and a former city councilman and parks commissioner, joins the discussion.

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A Tour of MTA's East Side Access Tunnels

Friday, July 18, 2008

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's East Side Access project reached its first goal post a couple of weeks ago: giant boring machines finished burrowing their way from 63rd Street and Second Avenue all the way to Grand Central Terminal. WNYC's Matthew Schuerman takes us on a ...

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Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel is Now Hugh L. Carey Tunnel

Monday, October 22, 2012

(photo by Johanna Mayer)

(Johanna Mayer -- New York, NY, WNYC) Legislation passed in 2010, and signs displaying the new name have been up for months. But Monday, it became official: the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel is now the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel.

Speaking at the official dedication ceremony, Mayor Bloomberg and former governors Mario Cuomo and David Paterson praised the late governor as someone willing to cross party lines to do what was best for New York.

"Hopefully people won't be stuck in traffic and curse his name, but if they do, I might point out that he and Lincoln--another great man with a tunnel--can look down and share a laugh," said Bloomberg. "Lincoln and Carey--Republican and Democrat--the president who saved the Union and the governor who saved the state."

Carey, who served as governor of New York between 1975 and 1982, is often credited with saving the city from bankruptcy in the 1970s. He also helped create Battery Park City, the Jacob K. Javits Center, and the South Street Seaport.

(photo by Johanna Mayer)

"Collaboration was his strength, and it's a lost art in Washington at this moment," lamented Cuomo. "They can't agree on anything. Carey--if we had Governor Carey now, he could've made a deal."

"I think he's an inspiration to all of us," said Paterson," because in this time of political expediency, he did what was right and did not worry about the consequences for himself."

Carey, a Brooklyn native, died last year at age 92.

Nearly 16.6 million vehicles used the 1.7 mile-long tunnel in 2011. It's the latest piece of the city's transportation infrastructure to be renamed for a former politician. In 2010, the Queensboro Bridge was renamed in honor of former mayor Ed Koch, and in 2008, the Triborough Bridge became the RFK Bridge.

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Bike Month NYC Meets the Brooklyn Bridge

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Perhaps you've been wondering how to combine Bike Month NYC with the 127th anniversary of the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge.  Wait no longer! 

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