Brooklyn · Kings County
Brooklyn Bridge Pedestrian Walk
NYC Parks
- Location
- Brooklyn Bridge, from City Hall (Manhattan) to Cadman Plaza (Brooklyn)
- Size
- Linear (1.1 miles) acres
- Hours
- Always open
- Type
- NYC Parks
The Brooklyn Bridge Pedestrian Walk is the most famous urban walk in the world, a 1.1-mile elevated promenade across the East River providing unobstructed views of the Manhattan skyline, the harbor, the Statue of Liberty, and the borough of Brooklyn.
The Brooklyn Bridge, completed in 1883 after 14 years of construction, was the longest suspension bridge in the world and the first to use steel cables. Chief engineer Washington Roebling supervised construction from his sickbed after being stricken with decompression sickness.
The bridge's designer, John Augustus Roebling, died from a tetanus infection sustained during the bridge's initial survey before construction began. His son Washington completed the work, and Washington's wife Emily Warren Roebling managed the project during her husband's illness.
The pedestrian walkway, elevated above the roadway on the bridge's iconic Gothic stone towers, provides a walking experience that is both an engineering marvel and an emotional journey between two boroughs.
The Brooklyn Bridge Pedestrian Walk is the most important walk in New York City, a crossing that connects Manhattan and Brooklyn across the river that once divided them, on a bridge built by a family that sacrificed their health and lives to unite the city.