Crossing the Williamsburg

I cross the Williamsburg bridge into and from Manhattan at least once every week. To get to it I have to cross Bushwick and for the last couple of years I've seen the neighborhood change right in front of my eyes.

For once, the bridge itself has changed. After almost thirteen years of improvements it looks like it's finally done. The walkway accommodates both bicyclists and pedestrians and the views of the East River are inspiring.

A couple of Saturdays ago I decided to cross the Williamsburg by foot. I grabbed my camera and started navigating my way through the cyclists and joggers. The walkway is now a tunnel of red iron. It looks, from the start, that you are walking into a time bending tunnel, just like in the movies. If you are coming from Brooklyn you will walk past old factories now converted to lofts. The broken and dirty windows still a reminder of years past. Just before you start walking above the water you meet an old friend of Brooklyn: the Domino's Sugar factory. It's sign still stands tall reminding us all that many years back it gave jobs to thousands of New Yorkers.

As I continued on my journey to the city I noticed that the walkway was covered by fencing, perhaps to protect the vehicles from any pranksters up above but it also covered most of the views. I did manage to put my lens through one of the fence links and snap a shot of the Empire State building. It stood majestic taking its place as the tallest building in New York.

I found many other views and took hundreds of pictures that day. The one thing I realized is that my neighborhood has the same structures from many years past but its spirit has changed. Factories gave way to artist lofts and low income housing is now a phrase of the past. There are lots ore businesses and we now even have yellow cabs.