110 years old and still ‘Feelin’ Groovy’

The Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge. Eagle photo by Lore Croghan

By David Brand

The Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, a pop culture icon and the longest, busiest span over the East River, celebrates its 110th anniversary today, June 18.

The dignified bridge has been the setting or backdrop in countless films, including Manhattan and The Dark Knight Rises. It’s perhaps the most grueling stretch of the New York City Marathon. And it’s the subject of Simon & Garfunkel’s classic “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy).” (Is the song stuck in your head now, too?)

After more than a century, more than 170,000 vehicles continue to cross the vital artery to and from Long Island City every day, according to a 2016 report by the Department of Transportation.

First envisioned in the early 19th Century, the 7,449-foot bridge officially opened on June 18, 1909 and has undergone several changes over the past century (including a renaming in honor of former Mayor Ed Koch in 2011).

A 19th Century illustration of a proposed Queensboro Bridge. Photo via the NYC Department of Records

Until 1957, a trolley line ran along the bridge, with an underground station at 2nd Avenue and stops in Astoria, Corona, Flushing and College Point, according to the website Abandoned Stations. There was once an elevator that descended from the bridge to Roosevelt Island below, according to Untapped Cities.

More recently, advocates, including Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer, have called for another bridge modification — dedicated bike lanes so that cyclists no longer have to maneuver around pedestrians.

The DOT honored the bridge’s anniversary Tuesday by sharing an 1837 sketch of a proposed bridge — more than 70 years before the span opened to Queens commuters.