Friday, March 03, 2006

Old New York (6)


(N.Y. Public Library Picture Collection)
New York - The Loew Bridge, at the junction of Broadway & Fulton Street (1887).
Mary E. Tucker, an African-American woman poet of the time (which is pretty remarkable in itself) wrote a poem called "Loew's Bridge: A Broadway Idyl," (1867) in which she's standing on the bridge, watching the torrent of Broadway flow by beneath her, and reflecting on the people she sees. When the poem was published, Tucker was prevailed upon to write some footnotes explaining local details for readers outside New York, and the first discusses the bridge itself, saying:
"Loew's, or as it is commonly called, Fulton Street Bridge, was completed March, 1866, The building being supervised by the Hon. Charles E. Loew, whose name has been bestowed upon it by an Act of the Common Council of New York. It is a large ærial structure, at the intersection of Broadway way and Fulton Street, where the thoroughfare is continually thronged with vehicles of all kinds, rendering it almost impossible for pedestrians to pass."

Labels:

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home