by Dan Pashman

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Dan Pashman, NPR

Click above to celebrate the Brooklyn Bridge's birthday vicariously.

Last night New York kicked off a five-day celebration of the Brooklyn Bridge's 125th birthday. The bridge holds a special place in my heart, for a variety of reasons. My (now) wife Janie and I walked across it on our first date. We got engaged on it. And we got married in its shadow. Now we're fortunate enough to live down the street from it, which means we get to view it and walk across it on a regular basis.

Janie and I attended last night's festivities. I tried to tell her it was all in our honor, but I don't think she believed me. It was a clear night featuring fireworks, a specially-designed multi-colored lighting scheme for the bridge, and a giant birthday cake in the shape of the bridge. We even got to eat the cake. (I don't want to get all political here, but that Michael Bloomberg sure knows how to run a city. He brought enough cake for everyone! The event greatly improved my tax-dollar-to-cake ratio.)

 

I have other reasons beyond personal ones for my attachment to the Brooklyn Bridge. I love reading about great engineering works, and the Brooklyn Bridge is one of the greatest. When the span was finished in 1883, it was roughly six times as long as the biggest earlier bridge of its type. Back then Brooklyn and Manhattan were separate cities, and the opening of the bridge is seen as the catalyst that led to the unification of New York City's five boroughs.

I got some good pictures of the event, although I don't have a fancy fireworks camera like those highfalutin folks at the New York Times. (They got some beautiful shots of the fireworks here.) And for more on the bridge in historical context, watch the Daily News' slide show. Also, check out one of the cooler parts of the celebration—a telectroscope that connects Brooklyn to London in real time. It allows Brits to look at the bridge, and Brooklynites to look at things they can't afford.