Plain Jane
It may have something to do with the beauty of its Manhattan kid sister and the older extrovert of the Brooklyn, but the Williamsburg knows that she has not been blessed with the looks, so it tries to make a selling proposition out of utility. It has not needed millions and decades for repair like the sickly Manhattan, and is bigger and can do more than the elder Brooklyn. She might not be the first to be asked to the Prom, but she sure is around when you need her, and gets you across in a flash! Solid dependability and generous girth are her assets, so she does not need the superficial flirtation of roving eyes! People, who still hum Simon and Garfunkel’s tribute to the Greensboro, come here when they actually need to rush from the named part of Brooklyn to that do-or-die appointment in Manhattan. The Williamsburg Bridge was designed with extraordinary focus on economy at a gregarious time when bigger was unquestionably better. The Brooklyn Bridge had to have the latest of everything-dynamite to hurry the foundations and steel cables instead of plain iron. The Williamsburg never behaved like that, not even on the design table. The entire aim seemed to be to take over the ferry with the least possible fuss. This bridge is notable for relatively short cables, modest towers, small foundations and minimal masonry. It is austere, always watches its weight and counts every cent. They say that Alan Greenspan simply adores her! The Williamsburg Bridge has held the crown of Miss Thrifty USA for the past century without a break! Even flashy playboys are respectful in her presence: the same company that spared no expense on the make-up of the Brooklyn Bridge merely spiced new wires when the Williamsburg cables were damaged in a fire. The founder of the Roebling Company must have known what his progeny would produce, for he always spoke of two bridges between Brooklyn and Manhattan-one to carry people and traffic and the other to look good! The Williamsburg Bridge has had such deep and wide impact on New York as a whole, that it has affected the ethnicity of the Boroughs. Many people who were cooped up in the Lower East Side, moved to Greensboro after the bridge opened to traffic about 100 years ago, and took the place of earlier settlers who had moved to Queens. The Williamsburg is also called the ‘Jew Bridge’ to celebrate this change in Greensboro’s demographics, though the name may also refer to the community’s sanguine financial prudence!
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The Williamsburg Bridge meets every essential property of a bridge-period. It cares not a hoot about its looks and has no time for the finer things in life. Approach it without fuss, get across in reasonable time and be on your way. A glance at the East River is allowed, though it is fine to peer at the other bank. You need not look at the towers or suspension; but keep your opinion to yourself, if you do. The Williamsburg Bridge is like a prison guard-you will get your due, no more and certainly no questions. Do your time and get on with your life. It knows that you may return, though never out of love, choice or respect.