New York has got some old bridges, and they create traffic nightmares for us daily. One project meant to alleviate our woes is the new Kosciuszko Bridge, which carries cars and trucks on the BQE over Newtown Creek, and tonight the construction headache is finally yielding some results.
The first of two spans of the updated bridge is set to open to traffic tonight with a light show broadcast over Facebook Live at 7 p.m. and visible from at least a couple miles away. The first major bridge in NYC since the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge was completed in 1964, the Kosciuszko Bridge will feature an advanced lighting system as part of something the city calls the “New York Harbor of Lights” initiative.
The lights will be coordinated with music playing on Q104.3 FM and 106.7 LiteFM. Fingers crossed it’s Prince! So all you have to do is climb up to the roof, grab a seat, tune that old radio you have kicking around, and look for the shiny new bridge sticking out over 120 feet in the air.
And here’s video of governor Andrew Cuomo taking the first drive across the bridge today in FDR’s car presumably because he was president when the original bridge opened?
I just took the first drive over the new Kosciuszko bridge in FDR’s 1932 Packard.
A beautiful car for a beautiful bridge. pic.twitter.com/Fn5avSqw5u
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) April 27, 2017
The westbound span is not set to open until 2020, but when it does, it will also include a pedestrian and bike path, making the commute between Maspeth and Greenpoint easier, much easier.
The original bridge, which was constructed in 1939, will be imploded later this summer, and we’ll be expecting front row seats to that one as well.