Generally Speaking: City seeking bids for new Bay Ridge Avenue bridge
The City’s Department of Transportation is calling for sealed competitive bids for the reconstruction of the Bay Ridge Avenue bridge. This is a structure at the foot of Bay Ridge Avenue at Shore Road, which also serves as the entranceway to the American Veterans Memorial Pier (69th Street Pier).
Originally constructed in 1939, as part of the larger Shore Parkway Belt System, locally known as the Belt Parkway, the bridge has become a community eyesore with visible rusted steel beams, dirty retaining walls and a patchwork quilt of wooden 2x4s and 2x6s covering its underbelly.
Keep in mind, prior to the opening of the Verazzano Narrows Bridge in 1964, there was also a tremendous amount of vehicular traffic entering and leaving the 69th Street Pier under this bridge when the Brooklyn-to-Staten Island ferries were in operation. I’m sure the high volume back then also helped to contribute to the overall deterioration of this bridge.