Queensboro Bridge
New York City, NY
Spanning New York City’s East River and connecting Midtown Manhattan with Long Island City in Queens via Roosevelt Island, hundreds of thousands of vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians cross the Queensboro Bridge—officially the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge—every day. The early-20th-century bridge is also significant from an architecture and engineering standpoint.
The basics
Often locally called the 59th Street Bridge—it connects with 59th Street on the Upper East Side—this cantilever bridge is the northernmost of the four bridges over the East River. It may not be as well known to tourists as the Brooklyn Bridge, or as old, but this significant thoroughfare also exudes elegant historic appeal.
Most travelers cross the bridge independently, either by car, bicycle, or on foot, but you might also cross it on a guided tour of New York. You can also admire views of the bridge from either side of the river or from Roosevelt Island.
Things to know before you go
- There’s no toll to cross the bridge.
- Drivers should feel confident with big-city driving if crossing—the bridge has four traffic lanes on the upper deck and five on the lower.
- A pedestrian and cycle path runs along the north side of the bridge, which is about 3,700 feet (1,100 meters) long.
How to get there
Queensboro Bridge is connected to other parts of Manhattan and Queens by major roads, so plan your route in advance if you’re driving. If you’re walking, the entrance on the Manhattan side is on East 60th Street, between First and Second Avenues; on the Queens side, it’s the busy Queensboro Plaza elevated subway station.
When to get there
Avoid the bridge during rush hour if you can—roughly 8am to 9am, then 3pm to 7pm—when even foot access can even be very busy. The cooler early morning is an especially nice time to walk across, as is sunset when you can see the lights of the New York City skyline switching on.
Things to see and do around the bridge
There are plenty of attractions around the bridge, which you can see and do before or after crossing it. On the Manhattan side, the bridge is near Fifth Avenue (for shopping), the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and Central Park. In Queens, it’s not far from MoMA PS1. In the middle, Roosevelt Island has several parks and historic landmarks.
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