When visiting New York City, one wouldn't usually consider walking across a bridge to be one of the highlights. Yet on my second trip to the city in July last year, I not only crossed the Brooklyn Bridge (twice), I also walked across the Manhattan Bridge (also twice) and the Williamsburg Bridge as part of my explorations.
-
Crossing the historic Brooklyn Bridge had been on my to-do list on my first trip to NYC, but I had missed out then due to bad weather and insufficient time. As such, it was pretty high up on my list for this trip. Fortunately, the weather cooperated, and I had fair weather for the two times I crossed it on this trip.
The first time I crossed it was early on in the trip, just to tick it off my list. But I hadn't exactly planned it out and had gone in the afternoon, when the bridge was packed with tourists (like me). This led to my decision to cross it a second time a few days later, in the early morning, where it was much emptier, and much better for photos (the great morning light was a bonus).
Crossing from the Brooklyn side in the early morning, looking towards Manhattan. Most of the few people I saw on the bridge were joggers.
One of my favourite shots on the bridge.
View of the Manhattan Bridge from the Brooklyn Bridge.
The bridge looks good in Black and White too.
Looking back towards Brooklyn. Early morning, the bridge is very empty, which is totally different from later in the day when the tourists get here.
Crossing the Manhattan Bridge was decided upon even before I had crossed the Brooklyn Bridge, as it was fairly close to the place where I was staying in downtown Brooklyn. The Manhattan Bridge provided great views of both the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan, and was my favourite for photos. I actually headed up the bridge three times to take photos, though I only crossed it entirely twice.
The downside of walking the Manhattan Bridge are the subway lines located adjacent to the pedestrian path. One needs to endure the loud roar of trains passing by every so often, and it can be headache inducing after awhile.
View of DUMBO from the Manhattan Bridge. The first time I crossed, the weather was overcast.
Walking across. The train tracks are to the right of the path, under the roadway. Very loud.
Nearing the Manhattan end of the bridge, looking towards the financial district.
Sunset view of the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan. One of my favourite shots from the trip. It started raining shortly after this, and I returned to the Brooklyn side instead of crossing over to Manhattan.
Second time crossing the bridge, with much better weather.
Just on the Manhattan side of the bridge, over FDR Drive.
Unlike the other two, crossing the Williamsburg Bridge was decided upon much later in my trip. It was mainly to satisfy the a curiosity of what the views would be like, after seeing the views from the first two bridges.
What I found was that while the view looked great, it was not ideal for getting a clear photo of the scenery, as the pedestrian pathway was some distance away from the fences that lined the bridge. However, it was the best of the three bridges for a leisurely stroll, as the pedestrian paths were located sufficiently far enough from the trains and the cars to make it comfortable.
The pedestrian path on the Williamsburg Bridge.
Great walking weather in the morning.
Lots of pink on the bridge. No idea if there was a reason for the colour scheme, but I quite liked how it contrasted with the grey of the support pylons.
Looking upwards at one of the pylons.
I definitely didn't plan on spending so much time on bridges, but there you have it. More to come on the rest of my explorations of NYC next week.
-
Till the next time,
Raylen