Simon & Garfunkel had a hit song in 1966 called The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy).

In 2015 I promised a coworker visiting from Germany to show him NYC. I told him to wear comfortable shoes and he replied “Of course! I’m German - we walk all the time.” 🤓 Mm hmm… sure. We started at Grand Central around 10:00AM and finished around 11:30PM after hitting Empire State Building, 30 Rock, walking halfway up Central Park, Columbus Circle, Juniors for lunch (and Fabulous Cheesecake!) Hillstone at 27th & Park for dinner, drinks at multiple bars and one last stop at Times Square to see it at night all lit up. (He literally stood in the middle for 15 minutes with his mouth open.) But the next day he complained about getting blisters from walking so much. 😂 I hope you enjoyed your visit to NYC - it’s a wonderful and fascinating city!

It used to carry train traffic for the old 2nd Ave Subway. Queensboro Plaza used to be twice the size as it currently is.

That's become my favorite bridge too. Love the view form queensboro plaza while taking the subway. The Tri-Boro bridge is also an East River bridge and is the only one with no fencing on the pedestrian path so the views are pretty amazing there too.

As a fellow infrastructure nerd your content is awesome!

Wow, I had known that there was a streetcar stop above Roosevelt (then Welfare) Island, but I had no idea cars could turn off the bridge and take the elevator!  Thank you for finding that footage.  The car in the clip is a mid-1960's Pontiac so that elevator lasted longer than first thought.  By the way, Koch is pronounced with the same ch sound at the end as like much, such, or rich, not with a k sound.  Ed Koch was New York's mayor from the mid 1970's into the 80's and is largely credited with salvaging the finances of the city which was virtually bankrupt.  Also, what do you mean Roosevelt Island is largely "retirement homes"?  There are plenty of younger people living there, I can assure you.

I used to live on RI, amazing views, i loved it.

i walk across the queensboro all the times it’s beautiful. thanks for the vids!

I did not know about that elevator for cars going from the bridge down to Roosevelt Island. Fascinating.

The Queensboro bridge is my favorite NYC bridge

59th Street bridge for life.   I also learned something today!  I had no idea that there was a building that had elevators!  Also, I absolutely love how you've spent so much time dissecting just how odd our transit networks are here.  I really do appreciate it dude.   Everytime I drive the Deegan heading to the Triboro and I pass under the Cross Bronx while going through the interchange, I think of you.

Funny, I just stayed in a hostel in Long Island City adjacent to the bridge last week. The trains passing by are SO LOUD I couldn't sleep without earplugs.

damn, when I visited NYC several years ago it didn't even occur to me to visit this bridge.... now I see that I missed out!

I grew up next to that bridge, age 3 to 18, in the city housing in the upper right corner of the opening screen: QUEENSBRIDGE HOUSES. (The Queen in “Queens” was named after the English Queen and Portuguese royal princess Catherine of Braganza (1638–1705)-—Wikipedia is your friend on all this…).

My parents and younger brothers moved to Roosevelt Island in 1975, upper middle of that screen. BTW, it most certainly is NOT a retirement community, with many families, schools, play fields etc. On a daytime walk you might meet a number of older folk, who enjoy the lifestyle —- so many have stayed, instead of moving to a culture-free zone such as Florida. (a NORC “Naturally Occurring Retirement Community?”).  My young nephew died at age 16 in a fall/jump/push? from the bridge onto the island. We will never know how or why.

Have walked, cycled, climbed parts of that bridge over the years. I do remember a ride on the trolley car on the outer roads of the lower level (now walking and cycle crossings) before it was discontinued—-I was born in 1951, and still have a metal token that one used for the fare. That building that connected to the island below had trolley stops on both sides of the bridge, but if you were on the southern side (Manhattan to Queens) you walked down a flight of steps, out over the side of the bridge, across a walkway slung under the bridge, and back up stairs to the elevator level of the building.  Not for the faint of heart! The stops in Queens (Vernon Blvd) had elevators down to ground level embedded within the arched bridge supports. The trolley departed from the Manhattan side via an underground terminal that still exists, but is used for maintenance vehicle storage now.

Yes, the most well-known bridges are the three between Manhattan and Brooklyn (Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg, N to S), then the first to Queens (Queensborough) but the there is yet another one Manhattan to Queens, a few kilometers north at 125th street, the Triborough, that also connects to the Bronx, thus the name.

BTW, I know no one who calls the Queensborough Bridge by its official name of a former mayor, “Ed I. Koch” and only Manhattanites call it the “59th Street” bridge, probably because of their insular view of the world!  Similarly, no one calls the Triborough by its official name of a former senator, “Robert F. Kennedy.”  Why use several words when one will do?  

To get the best experience of the bridge you probably have to use several means of transport, on foot/cycle, by vehicle (The Great Gatsby has a scene set coming from Queens with the view of nighttime Manhattan thru the girders!), from the riversides of either borough—-The UN from the Queens side, framed by the bridge, and from Sutton Terrace in “Manhattan” (the Woody Allen movie).

But the most interesting, if short way, is where you do not use the bridge at all and see it only from a dozen or so meters away, and then only for half its length—-the Roosevelt Island “Tram” (cable car is accurate). Be sure to bring a camera, and get off and walk the island a bit.

Thanks for the video!

Thanks for very interesting quality content.❤🎉

your videos are so cool

The Queensborough Bridge was seen in opening credits of the acclaimed TV series "Taxi" which ran on ABC and then NBC from 1978 to 1983. The sequence depicts a taxicab on the upper deck of the bridge crossing from Manhattan to Queens viewed from  vehicle ahead of it. As the series title and stars names appear, they then fly toward the viewer to be followed by the next name. This effect masks the fact that the sequence actual loops a film clip about 10 seconds long multiple times during the credits. Bob James' lovely composition "Angela" serves as the series signature theme.

My daily commute used to include biking over this bridge every day. The Manhattan side circa 2016-2018 used to end in a very tight uturn. The very first time I road over this bridge, I didn't know that, and I ended up hitting the fence cause it turned so quickly without me knowing it was coming up.

Next time you come to the US, you'll probably enjoy the San Francisco Bay Area. It has some much bigger bridges with their own quirks and histories, and while the public transport system isn't nearly as impressive and gritty as NYC's, it's also very interesting… trams that turn into metros mid-trip, actual cable cars, entirely different weather systems between stops, etc.

The NYC marathon runners cross the 59th street bridge into Manhattan each Fall into an iconic roar of the crowds.