[EPISODE] A Tale of Two Bridges

Join me as we travel across the East River on two of New York's famous bridges: the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, also known as the 59th Street Bridge.

My guests will be Joyce Gold, founder of a Joyce Gold History Tours, and Justin Rivers, Chief Experience Officer and lead tour guide of Untapped Cities.

Segment 1

Jeff welcomes his first and returning guest, Joyce Gold as they begin to talk about tonight’s topic: bridges in the big city. Specifically, talking about the Brooklyn Bridge and the Queensboro Bridge. Joyce mentions how the Brooklyn Bridge was not always called that. Joyce talks about not just the bridges but the ferries that first went from Brooklyn to Manhattan. She continues about how the Brooklyn Bridge came to be and the man who wanted to build it. Joyce talks about the trials and tribulations of that came with the actual building of the bridge

Segment 2

Joyce talks about the Roebling and how they were in charge of creating the Brooklyn Bridge. She mentions how the family actually invented a type of steel wire that was incredibly strong, John Roebling’s family wanted the bridge to connect the past and future. Joyce talks about how the city of Brooklyn paid for the construction. Joyce talks about how people got around in Manhattan versus Brooklyn and mentioned that most in Brooklyn would use the trolleys. Joyce also talks about how the creation of the bridge actually changed the neighborhood and where people moved.

Segment 3

Jeff brings on his next guest, Justin Rivers. Justin talks about his background, growing up in New Jersey and starting tours in New York City. One of Justin’s first tours was actually about Penn Station. Jeff and Justin talk about the origins of the Queensboro Bridge, and why they first created in it the first place. Justin talks about how Queens was very underdeveloped, and how the bridge got more people to move there.

Segment 4

Justin talks about the Queensboro and compares it to the Tappen Zee bridge and how they were both revolutionary. Jeff asks about the engineering challenges of a double decker bridge. Justin talks about the shift of labor unions and how they were main way things were getting built. Justin also mentions an almost, bombing of the bridge while it was getting built. He moves on to talk about the original names of the bridge. Justin talks about different stories the bridge has had in the past, and what it means to New York.