Throgs Neck Bridge—Fifty One Years and Counting

Today's Remembered Place is no stranger to the northeast Queens community. In fact, the Throgs Neck Bridge is one of few local landmarks that can be seen while driving throughout many of the hills around the area.

And on Jan. 11, 2012, New York City's easternmost crossing celebrates 51 years connecting the expressways of the north with the commerce of eastern Queens and Long Island.

Initially proposed by Robert Moses in 1945 to alleviate the traffic on the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, it would take 11 years before the original 'Bob the Builder' would find funds to erect a bridge between Throgs Neck and Bayside.

But eventually, the famed 'power broker' would take his case to the Federal Government, pitching a joint construction project to the Bureau of Public Roads that would involve the Triboro Bridge and Tunnel Authority and Port of New York Authority.

Then in 1955, the Joint Study of Arterial Facilities—conveniently chaired by Moses—would recommend a new crossing at the mouth of the East River that would lay just adjacent to Fort Totten in Queens and run over Fort Schuyler in the Bronx.

The project would take another 6 years to complete, $92 million dollars to build, and was funded entirely through the sale of TBTA bonds.

Today, the Throgs Neck Bridge is one of the most handsome suspension spans in the United States and is a vital link between Long Island and New England with more than 100,000 vehicles making the commute over its wide expanse ever day.

In the end, it would seem perhaps Moses was right with his vision for a bridge way out here in Queens.