Brooklyn Bridge

The Brooklyn Bridge, one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States, stretches 1825 m over the East River connecting the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. On completion, it was the largest suspension bridge in the world and the first steel-wire suspension bridge. Originally referred to as the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, it was dubbed the Brooklyn Bridge in an 1867 letter to the editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, and formally so named by the city government in 1915. Since its opening, it has become an iconic part of the New York skyline. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964.
Contemporaries marveled at what technology was capable of and the bridge became a symbol of the optimism of the time. John Perry Barlow wrote in the late 20th century of the “literal and genuinely religious leap of faith” embodied in the Brooklyn Bridge … the Brooklyn Bridge required of its builders faith in their ability to control technology.”
References to “selling the Brooklyn Bridge” abound in American culture, sometimes as examples of rural gullibility but more often in connection with an idea that strains credulity. In his second book “The Bridge”, Hart Crane begins with a poem entitled “Poem: To Brooklyn Bridge.” The bridge was a source of inspiration for Crane and he owned different apartments specifically to have different views of the bridge.
In the 1972 film, The Hot Rock, the Brooklyn Bridge was shown as a visual icon of New York City. The partially-finished World Trade Center was also shown. In the years between 1972 and 2001, the WTC became the icon of choice for New York City, and use of the Brooklyn Bridge fell. Since 2001, the Brooklyn Bridge has been restored to its status of “If you see the Brooklyn Bridge, you know you’re looking at New York City.”