Every day, thousands of New Yorkers and visitors enjoy walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. It is considered one of the most iconic experiences in the city. And it’s free of charge. Prior to 1891, however, that journey would have cost the pedestrian one cent. A rider on horseback would have paid three cents, and cattle cost two cents, each.
Pamphlet, 1954, Mayor Robert F. Wagner Departmental Correspondence, Public Works, 1954. NYC Municipal Archives.
This fee schedule appears in the “Souvenir Presentation at the Official Opening of the Modernized Bridge, May 3, 1954.” The lavishly illustrated booklet is located in the subject files of Department of Records and Information Services Commissioner Eugene J. Bockman (1977-1989). It is one of several items including correspondence, brochures, invitations, memos and other materials related to Bockman’s participation in the Brooklyn Bridge Centennial Commission. Formed in 1980, the Commission organized dozens of events and activities culminating in the day-long celebration of the Bridge Centennial on May 24, 1983.
Mayor Robert F. Wagner speaks at the Brooklyn Bridge reopening ceremony, May 3, 1954. Mayor Robert F. Wagner Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
The Bridge, along with Central Park, two of the most important public works achievements of the 19th century, are well documented in Municipal Library and Archives collections. The Archives recently completed a three-year project funded by the Institute for Museum and Library Services to preserve and digitize more than 9,000 plans of the Brooklyn Bridge. For the Record tracked project progress in several posts, most recently, Archives Conservation Teams Up With The Metropolitan Museum of Art highlighting an exhibition of several iconic bridge plans at the Museum.
Frederick H. Zurmuhlen, Commissioner, Department of Public Works, produced the multi-part booklet located in Bockman’s files. It commemorated completion of reconstruction and modernization of the bridge in 1954. It begins with several self-congratulatory essays, “Magnificent Achievement,” by Brooklyn Borough President John Cashmore, “Part of a Plan,” by City Construction Coordinator Robert Moses, and “An Engineering Marvel,” by Commissioner Zurmuhlen.
The Approach to the bridge from Manhattan as it appeared in 1883. Booklet, Modernized Brooklyn Bridge, May 3, 1954. DORIS Commissioner Eugene J. Bockman Collection, Brooklyn Bridge Centennial, 1983. NYC Municipal Archives.
The booklet continues with illustrated text describing the new truss system, roadways, and lighting. Most helpful is a graphic chart, “Evolution in Use,” that summarizes how modes of transportation across the bridge had evolved from 1883 to 1954.
Evolution in Use, Top of page, the bridge as of 1933, with elevated trains, trolleys and cars. Middle diagram, conditions as of 1945 with cessation of elevated trains and transfer of trolleys to elevated tracks. Bottom, modernized bridge with three lanes for passenger cars in each direction. Booklet, Modernized Brooklyn Bridge, May 3, 1954. DORIS Commissioner Eugene J. Bockman Collection, Brooklyn Bridge Centennial, 1983. NYC Municipal Archives
When it opened in 1883, the bridge had a walkway for pedestrians and a roadway for carts or coaches. Passengers could ride across in a cable car. Trolley service commenced in 1899. By the 1940s, with the increased volume of automobile traffic, “… it became clear that the Brooklyn Bridge would have to be modernized to derive from it its full potential in carrying capacity.” Since trolley and rapid transit service ceased in 1945, by 1950, construction work began to widen the roadways to three lanes in each direction and connect to the then-new arterial highways in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Completed in 1954, the result is essentially what the bridge looks like today.
In 2021, the City Department of Transportation separated bicycle and pedestrian traffic on the bridge by installing dedicated, two-way bike lanes on the Manhattan-bound roadway. Most recently, on March 27, 2026, Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani announced a redesigned bike and pedestrian connection to the bridge along Centre Street at its Manhattan entrance, creating fully separate bike and pedestrian access for the first time.
On Sunday, May 24, the Brooklyn Bridge will celebrate its 143rd Birthday. What better way to mark the occasion than a walk across the “Symbol of Greatness,” as Mayor Wagner called the iconic structure in 1954. Enjoy the holiday!
Aerial View Of Brooklyn Bridge, Looking North Toward Manhattan, 1962, color transparency. Department of Marine and Aviation, Department of Ports and Terminals/Ports and Trade Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.