Brooklyn Bridge

This photo captures a relatively quiet Brooklyn Bridge in 1914. Over the next century, foot traffic would change dramatically. “The Brooklyn Bridge has become as famous for its outsize crowds as its sweeping views of the New York skyline,” The Times wrote in 2017, “earning it the distinction of the ‘Times Square in the Sky.'”

More than 13,000 people walk across the Brooklyn Bridge on a typical day to go between Manhattan and Brooklyn over the East River. The iconic structure opened in 1883 after 13 years of construction. To squelch early rumors that the bridge wasn’t stable and might collapse, the great showman P.T. Barnum paraded across the bridge 21 elephants, including his prized attraction Jumbo, plus seven camels and 10 dromedaries on May 17, 1884. “To people who looked up from the river at the big arch of electric lights it seemed as if Noah’s ark were emptying itself over on Long Island,” The Times wrote. The bridge passed Barnum’s test.