Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Walking the Triborough Bridge

I joined the MTA Transit Museum for 2012. My point was originally to surprise a photographer I knew with a trip to the abandoned City Hall subway station...but that didn't work out as planned, or rather, it would definitely have been a surprise at the point at which the trips became available. Nevertheless, it's been completely rewarding. Michael Kraiger and I went on the City Hall tour, and I went alone on the trip to the old trolley terminal under Delancey Street.

On Saturday, I went with a group of 22 pedestrians across the Triborough Bridge, which is now officially RFK Bridge (rolls eyes, whatever). This was great. I took the PATH to 14th Street and walked over to Union Square to catch the 4 train to 125th Street. The group met at Second Avenue, at a corner I'd never been to on foot. Our guide from the Greater Astoria Historical Society led us up over the Harlem River, while two interns and the coordinator wrangled us.

We walked across the first section, the Harlem River lift bridge, then onto Randalls Island, which is also Wards Island due to the miracle of landfill. From there, we walked under the Bronx Kill bridge section, then finally crossed the East River to Astoria on the suspension bridge, oogling railway trains of Hells Gate in the distance.

The rest of the group headed to a beer hall at that point, but I walked two blocks to the subway and headed back to Herald Square, to catch the PATH home. A BBQ festival was going on across the street from my apartment building, but the lines were too long, and I had to get in my car to head to South Jersey.

I loved the bridge hike! The guide was knowledgeable and informative, and I can't say that it ever occurred to me to walk over the Triborough Bridge before.

The guide is leading a trip across Marine Parkway Bridge out in the Rockaways in a few week. That I can guarantee I never thought of doing before. I'm pretty busy right now, but I hope I can go on that.

I've put up more photos here. 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That is one scary ass bridge to walk if you're afraid of heights. I love walking bridges but doubt I'll ever do the Triboro again.