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NYC’s bridges can last 'forever,' if we take care of them
By
Clayton Guse
Published Oct 16, 2026 at 12:44 p.m. ET
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Photo by C. Taylor Crothers/Getty Images
By
Clayton Guse
Published Oct 16, 2026 at 12:44 p.m. ET
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This column originally appeared in On The Way, a weekly newsletter covering everything you need to know about NYC-area transportation.
Sign up to get the full version, which includes answers to reader questions, trivia, service changes and more, in your inbox every Thursday.
Maintaining New York City’s century-old bridges isn’t the most glamorous work. Workers regularly put fresh coats of paint on steel, oil cables and replace corroded components, doing the regular upkeep that goes unnoticed by the million New Yorkers who cross the bridges every day.
But that work is what keeps the crossings from collapsing into the East River.
Just ask Ross Sandler, a former city transportation commissioner who in 1988 closed the Williamsburg Bridge for three months because it was at risk of falling down. Some 250,000 daily drivers and subway riders who used the bridge were left in a jam.
“We hired consultants and engineers to do a full inspection, and when they started inspecting the bridge, they were shocked because they were finding entire steel beams missing or corroded — just cut as if they'd been cut by shears,” Sandler recalled. “It was decades of neglect. It's a slow deterioration, and all of a sudden you find yourself with a bridge that's not safe.”
It wasn’t just the Williamsburg Bridge. The three other city-owned East River bridges — the Queensboro, Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges — had also been neglected for decades and were in dire need of repairs. So in the 1990s, transportation officials established a long-term rehabilitation effort to gradually bring them into shape.
That program is now wrapping up. And this month the city is reviewing proposals from the nation’s biggest consulting and engineering firms for a new plan to keep the bridges in a state of good repair well into the 21st century.
Documents published by the city show the transportation department wants a strategy to prepare the bridges for more severe storms and snowfall brought by climate change. Officials are seeking advice on how the bridges will be used over the next 50 years, and want consultants to consider whether they need to be redesigned to “meet demand for sustainable transportation modes,” like bus rapid transit. The documents call for an analysis of how long the bridges’ lifespans could be extended by “eliminating all vehicle traffic.” The city also wants insight on “lighter-weight materials to reduce structural loading.”
“These four East River spans are some of the oldest and most iconic bridges in the United States,” transportation department spokesperson Vincent Barone said in a statement. “Through this RFP (request for proposals) we are looking for a firm to help NYC DOT not only map out a plan to keep them in good working order but also plan for the future and how to ensure their life is extended for New Yorkers and how they may travel around our city in the decades to come.”
The request from the city also calls for a top-to-bottom review of the day-to-day maintenance plan for each bridge, which Sandler said was encouraging.
“If you spend more on maintenance, you have to spend less on capital,” he said. “ It's cleaning it every year, cleaning off all the debris. It is painting it on a regular cycle, and it's oiling the members that need to be oiled so that you don't get damage from temperature.”
“You take care of those major elements and the other minor repairs that regularly occur, and the bridges can last forever.”
NYC transportation news this week
City Council and Mayor Mamdani to ban carriage horses in Central Park. Council Speaker Julie Menin said her chamber would hold a vote on Oct. 22 on legislation to draw down the industry in phases. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he shared Menin's goal. The ban on Central Park's carriage horse industry gained momentum in June after a carriage horse collapsed and died. Weeks later, teen tourist Romanch Mahajan died after he fell from a runaway carriage horse in the park. But the Transport Workers Union, which represents carriage horse drivers, has fiercely defended the industry.
“The legislation will require the administration to develop a plan to connect hardworking New Yorkers employed in this industry with new economic opportunities. We can honor our city's traditions while recognizing when it's time to move forward in the interest of public safety, protecting workers, and strengthening our city's economic vitality.” — Council Speaker Julie Menin
TWU President John Samuelsen disagreed with Menin's statement, saying the measure didn't do enough to help carriage drivers.
Brooklyn school dean alleges assault by MTA fare inspectors. A Brooklyn school dean says the MTA’s EAGLE fare enforcement unit brutally assaulted him over a $3 bus fare he says he paid.
Open season for Open Streets applications. New York City's Department of Transportation is now accepting applications for the 2027 Open Streets season for community groups, schools, business groups and other organizations that want to transform streets in their neighborhoods into community spaces.
Taxi union joins forces with Uber and a private equity firm to demand healthcare. The union representing New York City’s cab drivers has teamed up with Uber and a private equity firm that owns thousands of taxi medallions to call on lawmakers to create a public health fund for drivers after four yellow taxi drivers died on the job over the summer.
Years of bus headaches start at Port Authority today. The Port Authority’s $11 billion rebuild of the dilapidated, 75-year-old facility — which is used by 200,000 daily bus riders — will come in two major phases.
NYC’s "blue highways" program to move deliveries onto the waterways. The program aims to reduce air pollution and street congestion by replacing thousands of trucks with maritime shipping.
Staten Island man attempts to boot parked cars. A Staten Island man was sick and tired of people parking in front of his house and blocking his driveway. He put up a "No Parking" sign on the chain-link fence out front, but it kept happening. Taking matters into his own hands, he attached a boot to a vehicle’s front left tire, locking it in place, and left a note on the windshield, Staten Island prosecutors said.
Lost opportunity for one less day of alternate-side parking in Prospect Heights. The Department of Sanitation is sweeping up the broken dreams of drivers in Brooklyn's Prospect Heights, who were too lazy to move their cars during a pilot program that liberated them from alternate-side parking twice a week.
NJ Transit and Amtrak commuters need to adjust their schedules for five weeks. As construction continues on a new bridge over the Hackensack River, NJ Transit rail lines will experience cancellations, new departure times and changes to stopping patterns as crews work to finish transferring trains from the century-old Portal Bridge to its replacement. Amtrak is also changing its schedule as it takes advantage of the reduced rail traffic to complete eight maintenance projects along the Northeast Corridor.
Hit-and-run driver arrested after trying to flee the country. A 22-year-old man wanted for a deadly Brooklyn crash is now facing a slew of charges after police took him into custody at JFK Airport as he was trying to flee to Uzbekistan, officials said.
Join us for a conversation on the expansion of the Second Avenue subway
The long-promised expansion of the Second Avenue subway was intended to address a long-standing transit gap in East Harlem. But as construction advances, the project has also exposed a deeper tension between infrastructure investment and displacement.
Join WNYC’s “NYC Now” and the transit team on Thursday, Oct. 22, for a live podcast and community conversation with residents, business owners and MTA officials.
This is the fourth event in a five-part live community series focused on New York City’s affordability crisis. “In Conversation: The Affordability Series” brings New Yorkers together across lines of income, identity and experience to explore how the affordability crisis affects their lives — and where shared interests can lead to deeper understanding and solutions.
When: Thursday, Oct. 22. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the event starts at 7 p.m.
Where: CCCADI Ilé Oyin, 208 East 126th St., East Harlem
Tickets are free, but registration is required. Click here for more information and for free tickets.
Curious Commuter
Have a question for us? Use this form to submit yours and we may answer it in a future newsletter!
Question from Camille in Brooklyn
Why is there nowhere to lock bikes anymore? I remember two decades ago or so they had all these fun "design new bike lock stands" competitions. David Byrne even sponsored one. Did they all get ditched for Citi Bike stations?
Answer
Those gray, circular bike racks you see across the city were the product of that 2008 competition you referenced. The Talking Heads frontman and noted cyclist was indeed a judge who helped select the design. At that time, the city announced plans to install 5,000 racks over a three-year period. As of today, there are nearly 38,000 bike racks across the five boroughs, including the U-shaped black and silver ones. A spokesperson for the city transportation department said the agency aims to install about 2,000 new bike racks a year. And next year, crews plan to install New York City’s first secure, on-street bike parking units in parking spaces where cyclists can lock up. The DOT hopes to add 500 of those containers around the city, primarily in areas near transit hubs. Cycling has become more popular over the last two decades, leaving fewer spots. For comparison, there are nearly 2 million parking spaces for cars in the city.
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On The Way
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transportation
Clayton Guse
Clayton is the editor of the Transit and Infrastructure desk. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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