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Since construction on the Manhattan Bridge began in 1901, the bridge’s Brooklyn-side tower has been beautifully framed by the brick warehouses on Washington Street near the water. The steel structure photogenically rises up out of the East River, the Empire State Building visible in the distance.

Visitors and tourists are ever standing in the middle of Washington Street to snap the same iconic shot — which caught a photographer’s eye even before the bridge’s span was complete.

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A single tower of the bridge in 1909. The span wouldn’t be completed for another three years. The Empire State Building wouldn’t rise until 1931

Landscape

A 1974 image by Danny Lyon. The cobblestones are paved over, but the street could use a sweeping

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A still from Sergio Leone’s 1984 Once Upon a Time in America

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The view down Washington Street in 2015

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A 2015 picture from a few blocks over, on Adams and Front Street

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Another still from Once Upon a Time In America, of the bridge from the same intersection at Adams and Front


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. The picture of the single tower is priceless. However, I believe it pre-dated 1909, since the bridge, whose construction began in 1901, had been completed by that time.

    With regard to “Once Upon a Time in America”, I always considered it to be a flawed masterpiece since its parts were greater than the whole – but what parts!

  2. The picture of the single tower is priceless. However, I believe it pre-dated 1909, since the bridge, whose construction began in 1901, had been completed by that time.

    With regard to “Once Upon a Time in America”, I always considered it to be a flawed masterpiece since its parts were greater than the whole – but what parts!

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