The Queensboro Bridge Opens

The Queensboro Bridge opened to the public on March 30, 1909, carrying traffic across the East River between 59th Street in Manhattan and Long Island City in Queens, with Blackwell's Island (now Roosevelt Island) as a stepping stone in the middle. Designed by Gustav Lindenthal with architectural work by Henry Hornbostel and engineering by R. S. Buck, the bridge had been under construction since a groundbreaking in September 1901 and cost roughly twenty million dollars. Its formal opening followed on June 12, 1909, with a fireworks display, a parade, and a week of carnivals to mark the occasion. At the time it opened, its cantilever spans made it one of the longest bridges of its kind anywhere in the world, and it gave Queens something it never had before: a direct road link to Manhattan that didn't depend on a boat.