Hiking the Brooklyn Bridge!
Yes, here’s the spectacular 180 degree view of Manhattan to the left and Brooklyn to the right – with the East River in between – from atop the Brooklyn Bridge!
As we are all living some sort of #QuarantineLife, I have so much #wanderlust that I have to look back at some of my favorite trips!
Here one – an incredible walk across New York’s iconic Brooklyn Bridge…and guess what?
It’s easy, it’s fun and IT’S FREE!
Oh, and when you cross over, this is your view of Manhattan from Brooklyn:
That’s right, for the ultimate view of lower Manhattan, any trip to New York MUST include a walk across the iconic Brooklyn Bridge!
“Hitch Hiking” is where I take you on a nice hike and then dig into some classic Hitchcock movies and today, I’m going to take you across the East River to Brooklyn, then we’re going to take “The 39 Steps” with Alfred Hitchcock!
Let’s get moving!
The Brooklyn Bridge Is Easy To Find!
Getting to the Brooklyn Bridge is a breeze: the subway stop lets you out a few steps away from the bridge, which is clearly marked to show you where the pedestrian access is:
Second, It’s A Blast To Do!
The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid “cable-stayed/suspension bridge” in New York City. It connects the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn, spanning the East River. The Brooklyn Bridge has a main span of 1,595.5 feet, and is 133 ft above the river…
As you can see, it’s a terrific, car-free level with incredible views of the bridge itself!
Including the approaches on both sides, the Brooklyn Bridge is 6,016 feet long, so about 6,016 steps!
It’s easy to take a MILLION photos as you cross!
The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest roadway bridges in the United States and was the world’s FIRST steel-wire suspension bridge, as well as the first fixed crossing across the East River.
As you can see, the Freedom Tower is clearly visible from the bridge as you cross it:
The Bridge is supported by four main cables, which descend from the tops of the suspension towers and help support the deck.
These wires are bundled in 19 individual strands, with 278 wires to a strand. This was the first use of bundling in a suspension bridge, and took several months for workers to tie together!
The Manhattan Bridge Says “OY!”
Once you cross over, the fun continues!
A short walk north of the Brooklyn Bridge reveals the Manhattan Bridge, and a very cool pop culture piece of art!
Do You Prefer “YO!” Or “OY?”
It’s the question you can ask yourself as you travel just north of the Brooklyn Bridge when you come to Brooklyn Bridge Park – where there is a unique art installment that looks out on TWO separate bridges: these two large yellow letters, visible from both Manhattan and Brooklyn. When facing Brooklyn, the letters read “yo.” When facing Manhattan, they spell “oy.”
And based on where you stand, you can see the Manhattan Bridge to the right of the words, or as you see here, by looking to the left you see the Brooklyn Bridge!
The Artist says the distinction is simple.
“It was simply a matter of how can you not say, ‘Yo, Brooklyn’?” Kass said. “Which left ‘Oy, Manhattan.'”
Now, walk down to the water, and you can see the Manhattan Bridge in the foreground and right behind it the Brooklyn Bridge!
Then, walk down a side street and the Manhattan Bridge towers above you while the Brooklyn Bridge beckons as well!
Before you head back to Manhattan, stop and get one more view of that magnificent island, and then as you head back, Lady Liberty pops her head up as well:
As you walk back, a look south reveals that the Statue Of Liberty is clearly visible as well – it’s just a spectacular hike!
After such a long walk to Brooklyn and back, what’s 39 more steps? In this case: a killer!
“Hitch Hiking” Takes Hitchcock’s Classic “The 39 Steps!”
After hiking across the Brooklyn Bridge, it seems only fitting to celebrate one of Alfred Hitchcock’s greatest films that had walking in the title!
Here is the trailer:
“The 39 Steps” is one of Hitchcock’s earlier films: a 1935 British thriller that starred Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll.
A London man, played by Donat gets mixed up with an organization of spies called the 39 Steps – and after being wrongly accused of murdering a spy, he goes on the run to Scotland – and meets Madeleine Carroll, while to stop the spy ring and clear his name.
“The 39 Steps” is an early Hitchcock classic, named the 4th best British film of the 20th century by the British Film Institute!
Legendary filmmaker Orson Welles referred to the film as a “masterpiece”.
Screenwriter Robert Towne remarked, “It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that all contemporary escapist entertainment begins with The 39 Steps.”
Well, my “escapist entertainment” began with these 6,000+ steps across the Brooklyn Bridge!
It’s not my first “Hitch Hike” in New York – remember my 196 stroll through the big apple?
I walked 196 blocks, and the place it will take you, like the city’s magnificent Central Park…click here to see that entire journey:
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Leave a comment and let me know if you’ve crossed the Brooklyn Bridge!
Categories: Action Films, Books / Media, Cult Movies, Exotic Travel, Great Films, Memoirs, Movies, nature, New York, Pop Culture, Talent/Celebrities, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir
My goodness! I love, LOVE this post. Do you know who was the the first to cross the Brooklyn Bridge? No one believed it was safe, so the elephants with the Barnum and Bailey Circus walked across the bridge. How cool is that?! Your photos are fabulous!
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I love that trivia! Thanks so much for sharing! I did this walk originally 2 years ago but would love to go back again…miss traveling!
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I knew you’d like that tidbit. Covid is really wrecking havoc on traveling.
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Wonderful pictures! You make it look so enticing! I hope to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge someday when covid is only a distant memory!
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Yes, we are eager to return – I love walking that city!
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What incredible photos. I love that panoramic strip too, absolutely incredible. I have been to NY once, but it was just a one-night stop over on a weekend where I was working in Indy maaaaany years ago. I absolutely loved it but it was winter, freezing cold and we had so little time to do anything. If ever I could go back to the US, which I would love to do, I’d absolutely want to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and take an insane number of photos.
I love your Hitchcock twist here as you take us on this journey. It’s interesting to see those yellow letters at the Brooklyn Bridge Park – I can’t help but wonder how much that art installation cost as I bet it’s crazy money but it’s pretty cool! Certainly novel. 196 blocks in NY, that’s a good way to get exercise while being touristy!
Fabulous post, John – thank you for satisfying the wanderlust for us too as we all sit stuck at home! xx
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Thanks for reading and commenting, it’s great to hear from you! I worked on a project in NY and had to oversee a staff there, which meant I visited every few months…they always joked about how much I walked, but it’s such an incredible, diverse city…you can walk for miles and see all new stuff!
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Since I can’t walk across any bridge today, I will get my exercise watching one of my favorites, 39 Steps. Thank you
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It’s one of his oldest films but really holds up as a good “whodunnit?” Thanks for commenting, always great to hear from you!
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Fabulous photos, John, and pre-Covid, which is always an extra bonus! Some TV shows are choosing to be contemporary, so the actors wear masks. I don’t want the reminder!
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Yes, this is bit of #wanderlust as we wait to explore the world again! Thanks for commenting, it’s always great to hear from you!
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We were there last summer. I’ve got cabin fever and am climbing the walls! We’re trying to figure out how to get our son home for the holidays, SAFELY. GAH!
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We had to uninvited relatives as our state has virtually locked down again…let’s get to 2021, pass some vaccines around, don some masks and get back to life!
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Yes! I haven’t seen my son since March! Looking back, we should have rented a Winabago and driven to LA a couple of months ago!
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Great pictures, John, and a wonderful experience to walk this bridge and see these terrific sites. NYC looks so exciting.
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Have you never been, Robbie? You’d love it!
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Hi John, no, I’ve never been to the US at all. It was in our plans and, hopefully, when C-19 is sorted out, travelling will be possible again.
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Curious to hear where you plan to go!
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Terence wants to go to Orlando – I wonder why [smile]? We will also go to Tampa and North Carolina as that is where our family are and we would want to visit them.
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Well, IF there are any Harry Potter fans, the Wizarding World at Universal Studios there is incredible vast and cool…I was there once and it was very impressive…in fact, both theme parks there are really spectacular, because there was so much land to build on! Oh, and then you can drive to Cape Canaveral where they keep the rockets! I shot a show there once!
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It sounds very worthwhile, John. I like Harry Potter and Michael is a big fan. As for rockets, who doesn’t like rockets?
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39 steps- a classic! One of my favorite Hitchcock’s
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One of the oldest but a great one!
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