No Big Bang: Kosciuszko Bridge not being demolished Tuesday

July 10, 2017 By Paul Frangipane Special to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The new Kosciuszko Bridge span connecting Brooklyn and Queens shown at the grand opening ceremony for the bridge Thursday, April 27, 2017. AP photo by Kathy Willens

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Contrary to public belief, the old Kosciuszko Bridge will not be demolished Tuesday.

The rusted old Kosciuszko Bridge that connects Brooklyn and Queens was given a neighbor in April, a newer version of itself. Since then, talk of an explosive demolition has circulated, culminating in several Facebook events slating the demolition for Tuesday, July 11.

The events have drawn thousands of interested possible attendees to watch the bridge go out with a bang.

However, a New York State Department of Transportation spokeswoman told the Brooklyn Eagle Monday that the demolition is “definitely not happening tomorrow,” and that there is no definitive date for demolition thus far.

As for the explosive nature of the event, it doesn’t look like the skies over Newtown Creek will be filled with fire come demolition day.

“There’s still a lot of misinformation going on about it,” Willis Elkins of the Newtown Creek Alliance told the Eagle. “It’s not going to be an exploding bridge over the water, they’re going to bring the main span of the bridge down onto a barge…and barge it out, which I think will be pretty phenomenal to see.”

The pieces that hang over land will be brought down in a controlled demolition where the spans will drop down below, Elkins said.

Two new, six-lane spans will replace the old bridge that holds traffic on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. The first span opened in April and the other that will replace the demolished bridge is set for completion in 2020.