rutgers university press the george washington bridge poetry in steel oct 2008

Other Works by Michael Aaron Rockland Nonfiction Sarmiento’s Travels in the United States in 1847 (1970) America in the Fifties and Sixties: Julian Marias on the United States (editor) (1972) The American Jewish Experience in Literature (1975) Homes on Wheels (1980) Looking for America on the New Jersey Turnpike (co-authored with Angus Kress Gillespie) (1989) Snowshoeing Through Sewers (1994) What’s American About American Things? (1996) Popular Culture: Or Why Study “Trash”? (1999) The Jews of New Jersey: A Pictorial History (co-authored with Patricia M. Ard) (2001) Fiction A Bliss Case (1989) Screenplay Three Days on Big City Waters (co-authored with Charles Woolfolk) (1974) 00a_FMatter_i-x_10 6/23/08 3:57 PM Page i 00a_FMatter_i-x_10 6/23/08 3:57 PM Page ii TheGeorgeWashingtonBridge Poetry in Steel Michael Aaron Rockland Rivergate Books An imprint of Rutgers University Press New Brunswick, New Jersey, and London 00a_FMatter_i-x_10 6/23/08 3:57 PM Page iii Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rockland, Michael Aaron. The George Washington Bridge : poetry in steel / Michael Aaron Rockland. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978–0–8135–4375–8 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. George Washington Bridge (New York, N.Y.) 2. Bridges—New York (State)— New York—Design and construction—History. I. Title. TG25.N515R63 2008 624.2'3097471—dc22 2008000897 A British Cataloging-in-Publication record for this book is available from the British Library. Title page photograph courtesy of the Port Authority. Copyright © 2008 by Michael Aaron Rockland All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. Please contact Rutgers University Press, 100 Joyce Kilmer Avenue, Piscataway, NJ 08854–8099. The only exception to this prohibition is “fair use” as defined by U.S. copyright law. Visit our Web site: http://rutgerspress.rutgers.edu Manufactured in the United States of America Design and composition: Jack Donner, BookType 00a_FMatter_i-x_10 6/23/08 3:57 PM Page iv For Alana, Jessica, Jacob, Talia, Shira, Maliwan, and Jangila The Future Is Now 00a_FMatter_i-x_10 6/23/08 3:57 PM Page v 00a_FMatter_i-x_10 6/23/08 3:57 PM Page vi “The George Washington . is the most beautiful bridge in the world” —Le Corbusier 00a_FMatter_i-x_10 6/23/08 3:57 PM Page vii 00a_FMatter_i-x_10 6/23/08 3:57 PM Page viii Introduction 3 1 A Day on the G.W.B. 13 2 The George and the Brooklyn: New Jersey and New York 27 3 Othmar Ammann 39 4 Building the Bridge 55 5 The Accidental Icon 69 6 “The Martha” and the Bus Station 81 7 Dramas, Dangers, and Disasters 93 8 The George Washington Bridge in Literature 107 9 The George Washington Bridge in the Other Arts 123 10 Life Along the Walkways 135 11 The G.W.B. and Me 147 Acknowledgments 155 Notes 159 Selected Bibliography 175 Index 179 Contents ix 00a_FMatter_i-x_10 6/23/08 3:57 PM Page ix 00a_FMatter_i-x_10 6/23/08 3:57 PM Page x [...]... girders of the giant bridge towers The towers reminded us of our Erector Set projects Indeed, from the moment the George Washington Bridge was inaugurated in 1931 the picture on Erector Set boxes was of a father and son working together on a miniature G.W.B tower with a painting of the bridge itself in the background The message was clear: when they grew up, those with Erector Sets would do great things... evening came on and the sun sank behind us, we observed the color of the bridge changing from silver to purple to orange When we awoke in our pup tents in the morning, there the bridge still was, the sun, as it rose in the east, placing the towers in silhouette while the great city across the Hudson came alive Though we were too young to express it in this manner, we marveled at the scene the bridge. ..00b_Intro_1-11_11 6/23/08 3:57 PM Page 1 The George Washington Bridge 00b_Intro_1-11_11 6/23/08 3:57 PM Page 2 The world from on high in one of the towers Courtesy of the Port Authority 00b_Intro_1-11_11 6/23/08 3:57 PM Page 3 Introduction I have lived most of my life on one side or the other of the George Washington Bridge It is the busiest bridge in the world and, since its 1931 inauguration,... Page 17 A Day on the G.W.B 17 Having climbed from their lowest point, fifteen feet above the midway point of the bridge, the barrel cables now begin their descent from the New Jersey tower to the anchorage in the Palisades The same engineering is to be found heading east to the New York tower, terminating in the New York anchorage I had thought the barrel cables must be greased so they could slide back... 7 Introduction 7 enemy troops occupying Princeton He would be back in Fort Lee in 1781, preparing to cross the Hudson again to engage the British in Manhattan Thus the George Washington Bridge stretches from one Revolutionary War fort site to another The New York tower stands in Fort Washington Park, the New Jersey tower just offshore from where Fort Lee once stood on the Palisades At the G.W.B.’s inauguration... weight, the traffic passing over it The George Washington is built so solidly that its live weight, as bridge staffers are fond of saying, is “like an ant on an elephant’s back.” Nevertheless, in one way or another, all of the bridge moves In hot weather the barrel cables and suspender cables expand; in cold they contract Thus the roadways may be lower in summer, higher in winter There are also steel. .. the south pedestrian walkway The flag emerges from its steel cylinder drawn up in the shape of a bat and then is allowed to slowly descend I know of nothing man-made more beautiful than the scene at night on national holidays when the George Washington Bridge towers are illuminated from within, the green lights on the barrel cables twinkle, and the American flag moves gracefully in the breeze below the. .. went into building the George Washington The Pulaski Skyway, the series of cantilever truss bridges connecting Newark and Jersey City over the Meadowlands, was completed a year after the George It has now been declared obsolete, with plans afoot to replace it The Tappan Zee Bridge, the most important bridge over the Hudson north of the George Washington, is also considered obsolete, if not dangerous, in. .. 2000 At the center of the arch underside is the opening of the tube in which the giant sixty-by-ninety-foot flag is stored and from which it is deployed Courtesy of Dave Frieder 01_Day_12-25_14 6/23/08 3:58 PM Page 21 A Day on the G.W.B 21 the towers of the George Washington Bridge was wildlife These raptors make their homes there Indeed, the bridge staff, in cooperation with the Audubon Society, has... for their nests, placed in steel alcoves that are out of the wind The birds glowered at me, and I decided it would be better to give them a wide berth I didn’t want one of these things suddenly coming at me, certainly not up here on top of the world The pigeon feathers and bones surrounding the falcon’s nests testified to their hunting prowess Bob McKee said, “There’s nothing quite like a peregrine going . Dangers, and Disasters 93 8 The George Washington Bridge in Literature 107 9 The George Washington Bridge in the Other Arts 123 10 Life Along the Walkways 135 11 The G.W.B. and Me 147 Acknowledgments. directly in front of us, to the lattice-like steel girders of the giant bridge towers. The towers reminded us of our Erector Set projects. Indeed, from the moment the George Washington Bridge was inaugurated. dropped to a nickel and later 4 The George Washington Bridge Photo of the author (on right) at age five on the George Washington Bridge, his older brother on the left. 00b_Intro_1-11_11 6/23/08 3:57