I often write about beautiful places in New York City, which can lead one to believe everything is perfect… But this city is perfectly balanced! The Bridge Apartments are four identical 32-story residential towers that stand directly on a 12-lane highway! Not just next to each other, but literally on the highway: when driving along the Trans-Manhattan Expressway, your vibrations are felt by the approximately 4,000 residents of these high-rises.
The Trans-Manhattan Expressway connects the most populous city in the United States, New York City, with the most populous state, New Jersey, via the George Washington Bridge, which is the busiest highway bridge in the world. More than 100 million vehicles cross its two decks and 14 lanes of traffic annually. The bridge opened in 1931 (six years before the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco) and until 1937 was the longest suspension bridge in the world.
The Bridge Apartments project began with a controversial alliance between the city and the developers. New York City received additional square footage above the highway, thereby securing the potential to collect taxes on the 960 future apartments, while the developer purchased land in Manhattan for a mere $1 million, promising affordable housing and spacious balconies with fantastic views of the City.
Closing the highway during construction was impossible, so the engineers came up with the idea of placing four huge slabs on the road and then building four towers on top of them. The only problem was that completely covering the 12 lanes of road was impossible — that would have prevented natural ventilation of exhaust fumes. So the developers simply left sections of open highway between the buildings.
I don’t think I’ll surprise you if I say this turned out to be a major engineering miscalculation, ruining the lives of all residents for the next 60 years. From the very first day until now, residents have been unable to physically open their windows, and some complain of permanent headaches, nausea, and cognitive decline.
Besides the toxic air, there’s also constant vibration from trucks: the bridge remains the only route for freight traffic across the Hudson River within New York City. The other two options — the Holland Tunnel and the Lincoln Tunnel — are designed only for passenger and public transit.
📍Bridge Apartments / 1365 St Nicholas Ave, New York, NY 10033
