Carroll Street Bridge: a ‘Place that Matters’

December 1, 2020 Editorial Staff

What could be more romantic than a wooden bridge and cobblestones? Photo: Lore Croghan/Brooklyn Eagle

The Carroll Street Bridge. Photo: Lore Croghan/Brooklyn Eagle

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The Municipal Art Society and City Lore are asking people to nominate essential places in their neighborhood to the Census of Places that Matter, an encyclopedia and guidebook of places across the city.

This month the two organizations are highlighting the Carroll Street Bridge across the Gowanus
Canal. The bridge was built in 1889 and is one of only four retractable bridges remaining in the U.S.

Local resident Amy Young, who nominated the bridge, says, “The other bridges [across the canal] are functional and sturdy, but this little blue bridge refers back to a time before Carroll Gardens and the Gowanus area began rushing toward full gentrification.”

The bridge has gotten stuck a few times, and in 1971 the city wanted to close it, but in the late 1980s it was declared a landmark. “It is a marvelous shade of blue, it stands out against the cityscape and you are close enough to the water to watch the tide come in,” Young said.