Famous New York Landmark Celebrates 140 Years

Everybody knows that New York is a state filled with many different attractions and things to experience. New York also has many attractions that are just immaculate marvels to see.

One of these iconic landmarks is none other than the Brooklyn Bridge and this historic landmark just reached a milestone. The Brooklyn Bridge is now 140 years old.

For such an iconic landmark, you know something special has to be happening to commemorate the occasion. Well in honor of the Brooklyn Bridge reaching it's 140th year, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced the opening of a new and revitalized public space near the bridges location.

This public space is referred to as 'The Arches' and is located in Chinatown. This area in Chinatown by the bridge had previously been closed to the public for over a decade. Now 'The Arches' is open again and has been updated for people to enjoy. The update to the revitalized area includes basketball and pickleball courts, as well as a new shuffleboard area.

The Brooklyn Bridge was originally built back in 1883. At the time of its completion, the bridge was universally acclaimed as being a grand achievement of modern engineering. The bridge also accomplished what had not been done before as Brooklyn and New York were now connected. It was highly praised and such a success that people began calling it 'the Eighth Wonder of the World'.

The mastermind behind the construction of the engineering marvel was a man by the name of John A. Roebling. Construction on the bridge began in 1869 and was finished in just 14 years. The Brooklyn Bridge is actually classified as a 'suspension bridge'. A suspension bridge is defined as 'a bridge with overhead cables supporting its roadway'. Those cables are then held in place at each end of the bridge.

Fast forward to 1944 and construction or 'reconstruction' began on the bridge. This work on the bridge saw that bridge was further strengthened and fortified, road ways were expanded from 2 to 3 and new entree ways were also constructed for people to get on the bridge. THis construction was completed in 1954.

Over the next handful of years the Brooklyn Bridge would receive a number of different honors and titles. In 1964 it was given the honor of being a National Historic Landmark and then in 1967, the bridge was designated as an NYC Landmark. Lastly in 1972, the Brooklyn Bridge was declared a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

It honestly is incredible when you think about how much of an engineering success the Brooklyn Bridge is. To think that at that time in the 1800's engineers were able to construct this marvel over the East River and all these years later it's still standing, with a few different improvements made along the way. It is a true reminder of the level of feats that people are able to achieve. Here's to many more years for this famous New York landmark.