Dumbo NYC

Notes from the DUMBO, Brooklyn NY neighborhood


Dumbo Launches 125th Birthday for the Brooklyn Bridge

May 21st, 2008

Brooklyn Bridge lighting and art installation

Brooklyn Bridge lighting and art installation

125 years ago, at 2pm on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge officially opened. New York City is celebrating the bridge’s birthday with a week of events. With Dumbo situated at the foot of the bridge, the Dumbo Improvement District, with support from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and NYC Department Of Transportation organized and unveiled a permanent public art project and upgrade to the Brooklyn Bridge pedestrian walkway at Washington and Prospect Streets today at 2pm. The permanent installation features fiber optic and LED lighting and art (consistent with their environmental efforts), a map and signage under the bridge, and metal signs and directional compass on the sidewalks.

Dumbo Improvement District Executive Director Tucker Reed, NYC Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, and Lisa Kim, Director, Percent for Art Program were in Dumbo to unveil these walkway improvements. Marty Markowitz said, “With these beautiful new signs and lights, visitors will have an easier time locating the Bridge’s pedestrian walkway and breathtaking views, as well as the wonders of Dumbo, the epicenter of ‘hip’ in Brooklyn.” As many Dumbo residents can attest, visitors and tourists to the area used to be confused about where to go for the Bridge, or directions to the park, Brooklyn Heights, or a neighboring community. Not only will these signs help guide them back to Brooklyn Bridge or Manhattan, but also liven up the previously dark underpass with unique and interesting lighting.

Coinciding with the public art lighting, the 2008 celebration will kick off with a public birthday party on Thursday, May 22nd at the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park DUMBO, featuring live music by the Brooklyn Philharmonic, Grucci fireworks, and the unveiling of special bridge lighting that will illuminate the bridge from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. through Memorial Day. (More at nyc.gov)

Brooklyn Bridge art/sign installation

Brooklyn Bridge art/sign installation

Brooklyn Bridge art/sign installation

The signage and public art lighting installation was created by Emphasis Design, Tillet Lighting Design and KT3D, and is entitled “This Way.”

{Dumbo Improvement District 2007 Initiatives, 04Mar2007}
{Brooklyn Bridge Lighting Flickr Set}

Filed in Brooklyn Bridge, Dumbo Art, Dumbo Events, Dumbo Improvement, Dumbo in Media, Prospect Street at 4:16 pm
Comments
  • Mr. Dumbo
    I agree about the yield to pedestrian signs. It should also say "RIDE SLOW"! I saw one biker crash into a walker in the pedestrian lane upon trying to pass another biker. Many Bikers go way too fast!!!

    At the same time,some of the walkers are morans. They stop and block the walk lanes or waunder over to the bike lane with no thought whatsoever about who is coming up behind them. For them how about a "Be Considerate Of Walkers Behind You!" Signs?
  • dumbostreets
    As for the bikers, a few "Yield to Pedestrians" signs would do the trick.

    Right now it looks like a highway traffic lane...

    It is, primarily, an observation deck and walkway. The signage needs to convey this.

    Putting up signs is a very reasonable and cost effective solution; it should be done.
  • BridgeWalker
    Andrew - The fireworks were "cooler" 25 years ago because you were stoned then.

    Also, the Bk bridge bikers really do need to SLOW DOWN. It's such a narrow pathway. I know you're in a hurry to get home from work but just chill out. Tourists will wander over the lines into the bike area, so don't race through their yelling at them.

    There are plenty of cops on the bridge, maybe they could enforce a 3 mph bike speed limit?
  • Steve
    The bikers do not heed any of the signs. They need to sow it up a bit!
  • Steve
    Lou,
    My thought exactly. Not that I mind answering the question, but it would have been a great idea to include subway directions.
  • Lou
    One thing that they forgot to put on any of the signage are directions to the Subway stations for those that do not wish to walk back. I get this question at least twice a day.
  • Andrew Porter
    The cops told me the fireworks would start at 9pm, but they started earlier and were *over* before 9. The fireworks 25 years ago were much cooler -- there were showers of white coming from the edge of the Bridge itself, not the usual shots into the air from barges, like they did this evening.

    After a while, you get blase about fireworks around here, esp. when South Street Seaport has them every week, anyway.
  • daily bridge
    according to a party coordinator, fireworks won't start until 9 (they need darkness)

    and per the walker/biker discussion I agree with the well stated opinion of Bridge Walker, as a walker and biker myself

    the completely aggressive nature of the bike riders in general poses a very dangerous situation for walkers. unfortunately it is unlikely to be address until a bad accident happens.
  • ks
    Cool project! it will be a good help to tourists coming off the bridge.

    re: the lanes, it's silly to expect cyclists to walk their bikes because people can't read the signs. despite being a tourist attraction, the bridge is mode of a transportation for both cars and cyclists. understand that both sides feel crowded, respect is due to commuters and tourists alike.
  • quit complaining
    ride a bike
  • cheese
    the new signage is nice, but could the lights be any cheesier? it looks like coney island now. how gross.
  • Starts at 7:45pm tonight according to the official program:
    newspaperads.nydailynews.com. Will post more on this later today. Would love to see your pics!
  • C
    What time do the fireworks start tonight? I've got a friend BBQ'ing on the roof of 70 Washington and plan to take plenty of pics!
  • Bridge Walker
    As a frequent walker of the Brooklyn Bridge I agree that the many of the bikers are obnoxious. There are clearly many more pedestrians on the Brooklyn Bridge than bike riders yet the walkers are relegated to a single very narrow path where everyone is clumped together leaving a very open bike path for the occasional biker to wiz by.

    I do agree that the paths are clearly marked but it is unfortunate that the many of the bikers are so adamant about trying to take out whoever wanders onto their open path even if it is only for a moment to pass some of the slower moving, picture taking pedestrians. Many of the bridge walkers are tourists who are on the bridge for their first time and may not be paying attention to the signs. They are the ones who usually take the brunt of the biker's wrath.

    It would be a very nice improvement if somehow the bikers were allowed a lane on the street below leaving the entire path to pedestrians who outnumber the bikers by at least 100 to 1. Obviously I am not very hopeful that this will happen any time in the near future, but it would be a nice improvement.

    I am a bike rider as well and agree that bikers need an equal opportunity to enjoy the bridge. It just comes down to a crowding issue that creates a dangerous situation.

    I now open the floor to Eddie Wilson and the other trolls to rip me to shreds for stating my opinion. Enjoy.
  • mike d
    Looks like another nice improvement.
  • Eddie Wilson
    idiots.

    its the pedestrians who are the road hogs. the lanes are clearly marked, with a huge white line all the way down and HUGE WHITE GRAPHICS, and pedestrians cross the line and don't look out. Its the walkers who are ruining it, not the other way around.

    And I'm not a biker!
  • mod squad
    typical of the self rightous bike riders that populate Brooklyn. Once the threat of being run down by an Escalade from Farragut is removed, they themselves become the road hog.
  • dumbostreets
    One thing that should still be added are "Yield to Pedestrian" signs on the bridge walkway. I've experienced so many bicyclers blasting down the bike path shouting at unwary tourists, school children, and regulars who in inevitably drift into the bike lane on crowded days. This can make the experience of walking across the bridge unpleasant. Considering how important foot traffic is for Dumbo, the design of the bridge walkway as a panoramic observation deck which works against its division into lanes in the first place, and the vastly superior number of those on foot, bicyclists need to be reminded that they do NOT have right-of-way. If the bridge is crowded please do not plow through and shout. Get off your bike and walk or take the Manhattan Bridge.

    This situation will be even more evident with the upcoming 125th birthday... so it would've been nice if planners had considered this somehow.
  • fratello
    I ride my bike to work across the Brooklyn Bridge, and I can't tell you how many lost people I've come across in that area. This will help everyone get on and off the bridge, and find their way around Dumbo and Brooklyn Heights. Nice work from the Dumbo Improvement District.
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