WHERE: Pulaski Bridge, Greenpoint Avenue Bridge, and Borden Avenue Bridge
START/FINISH: 11 Street and Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, Queens
DISTANCE: 3.1 miles (5 kilometers)
Photographs by Michael Cairl except as noted.
Route of this walk, courtesy footpathapp.org.
On this brisk, nearly cloudless November day ten people joined me on a walk over three Newtown Creek bridges. Newtown Creek forms part of the boundary between Brooklyn and Queens, and is one of the most polluted waterways in the United States. The banks of Newtown Creek have long been mostly industrial, but close to the East River that has been changing with the construction of high-rise apartment buildings. None of the areas we walked through are tourist territory.
We started in Long Island City, Queens, near the north end of the Pulaski Bridge. This double-leaf lift bridge opened in 1955 to replace a low-level lift bridge, the Vernon Bridge, nearby. The Vernon Bridge carried traffic between Vernon Boulevard in Long Island City and Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The Pulaski Bridge used to have bicyclists, runners, and pedestrians competing for space on the footpath. In recent years one of the Brooklyn-bound traffic lanes was converted to a bicycle lane, a much more satisfactory solution given the volume of bicycle and foot traffic using the bridge.
Pulaski Bridge, looking from the west. Image courtesy bridgehunter.com.
Hunterspoint (Vernon) Bridge, circa 1905. Image courtesy atlasobscura.com.
Leaving the bridge, we went west on Eagle Street one block to Manhattan Avenue, then south to Greenpoint Avenue. Greenpoint is an old Polish neighborhood, and while one still sees a lot of Polish shop signs and hears Polish being spoken, things are changing. Newcomers are moving in despite the lack of direct subway service to Manhattan: the G train has two stations on Manhattan Avenue but runs only between Brooklyn and Queens. We turned east on Greenpoint Avenue after some in our group stopped at a Polish bakery for bread and doughnuts. Passing the fire house on Greenpoint Avenue, we met John, an FDNY fire fighter who ran the New York City Marathon with Michael from our group. A totally unexpected, serendipitous moment, of a piece with the encounters I often have on these walks. Accordinig to Michael, John ran the Marathon wearing Crocs.
Fire fighter/EMT John flanked by walkers Michael (left), Kevin, and Yours Truly. Photograph by Tess Tokash.
From there, we walked past the architecturally fascinating Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant, the largest in New York City, to the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge. The most striking feature of this plant is eight huge egg-shaped structures that house the plant's sludge digesters. The digesters use a process called anaerobic digestion to transform the sewage plant sludge byproduct into a form which can be used as fertilizer. The plant gives monthly public tours of the digester eggs, for which reservations are required. The plant's design has won awards from the American Institute of Architects, the Society of American Registered Architects, and from the Art Commission of the City of New York (now known as the NYC Design Commission).
Sludge digesters, Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The Greenpoint Avenue Bridge, a double-leaf lift span, opened in 1987 and is the sixth bridge at this location, crossing Newtown Creek from Brooklyn to Queens. From Wikipedia: In the 1850s, Neziah Bliss built the first drawbridge, which was called the Blissville Bridge. It was followed by three other bridges before being replaced by a new bridge in March 1900. A new bridge opened in 1929 and after suffering from mechanical problems it was replaced by the current structure in 1987.
View from the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge. Kosciuszko Bridge is in the left background.
Eight of the eleven walking up the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge. Photograph by Jennifer Tokash.
The approach to the footpath on the west side of the bridge, at both ends of the bridge, is not only not accessible but is hazardous. At the Queens side the condition of the footpath approach was such that I considered it safer to step into the bike lane and continue walking.
Queens end, west footpath, Greenpoint Avenue Bridge.
From the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge we walked through an industrial area, past the Silvercup East Studios, to Borden Avenue and the third bridge of the day. The Borden Avenue Bridge crosses Dutch Kills, a branch of Newtown Creek. This bridge was completed in 1908 and is a retractable bridge. When it opens it slides on rails into a berth, rather than lifting or swinging. It is one of four such bridges remaining in the United States, two being in New York City. (The other is the Carroll Street Bridge in Brooklyn, which I’ll cover on a future walk.)
Borden Avenue Bridge, showing the rails on which the span retracts.
Control house, Borden Avenue Bridge.
We finished the walk a few blocks past the Borden Avenue Bridge with lunch at Jora, a wonderful Peruvian restaurant in Long Island City. This walk had it all: a mostly accessible route with some challenges (note to the Department of Transportation: fix these!), a great group to walk with (including one of my occupational therapists from Brooklyn Methodist Hospital and some of her students from Pace University, a high school classmate of mine, a survivor of Guillain-Barre Syndrome who runs marathons, and others), a serendipitous encounter in front of a fire house, and a great lunch, all on a bright, chilly day. This was a hugely satisfying walk that I’m glad I could do with others. Onward!