Two Bridges (Manhattan)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Two Bridges (left) between the Brooklyn Bridge (in the foreground) and the Manhattan Bridge (1982)

Two Bridges is a neighborhood in the southeast of New York's Manhattan borough .

location

The Two Bridges district at the southern end of the Lower East Side includes the blocks near the bank from the Brooklyn Bridge in the west to the blocks east of the Manhattan Bridge , the so-called Two Bridges Urban Renewal , which is located between the Manhattan Bridge and the Williamsburg Bridge in the Extends north. Since there are no officially set boundaries for the neighborhoods of New York City, this definition is somewhat imprecise. Nevertheless, the East River is the southern border, East Broadway is the northern border, Montgomery Street is the eastern border and St. James Place and the Brooklyn Bridge are the western border.

The adjacent neighborhoods are the Lower East Side and Chinatown to the north and the Civic Center , South Street Seaport and the Financial District to the west .

history

The Brooklyn Bridge (foreground) and the Manhattan Bridge (photo from 1916). The Two Bridges district is on the left between the two bridges.

When Two Bridges was outside the city limits, it was Dutch farmland. Tenement houses were later built here, in which immigrants settled. Irish, Italian, Greek and Jewish immigrants first lived here. Before the multi-story social housing projects were built in the 1950s, Irish, Italian, Greek and Jewish gangs fought for supremacy. Most of the time the Irish got the upper hand. A kind of Irish political aristocracy attended St. James Church and lived on Oliver Street , where at number 25 was born Governor Alfred E. Smith - a reformist who fought for affordable housing and improved funding for public education institutions. A statue near the house where he was born in a park in the neighborhood east of Madison Street commemorates him. St. James' Church was founded in 1827 by a Cuban priest and freedom fighter and the Ancient Order of Hibernians - an Irish brotherhood. Legend has it that the church was built by Irish boat builders and would float if lowered upside down.

After World War II , Latin Americans - many from Puerto Rico - moved into the new public housing. The churches, schools and neighborhood organizations in the district helped them gain a foothold in the new country. More recently, the same institutions have been helping new immigrants integrate - often first and second generation Chinese immigrants. To this day, families with low and medium incomes have predominantly lived in this quarter. The crime rate, like all of Manhattan, is falling.

Every September, the boardwalk at Pier 35 on South Street between Clinton Street and Rutgers Slip hosts a free late afternoon concert each year.

Two Bridges Historic District

Brooklyn Bridge with a view of Two Bridges (left) (2007).
View from the Two Bridges neighborhood towards Brooklyn on the East River and the Brooklyn Bridge as well as the Manhattan Bridge

The Two Bridges Historic District was in September 2003 listed building, and in the National Register of Historic Places added. It spans nine blocks that stretch between East Broadway, Market Street , Cherry Street , Catherine Street , Madison Street and St. James Place .

The following monuments are located here, which have been entered in the State Historic Registers and Federal Historic Registers:

Web links

Commons : Two Bridges (Manhattan)  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Kelly McEvers: Close-Up on Two Bridges, Manhattan . In: The Village Voice , August 24, 2005. Retrieved January 25, 2007. 
  2. ↑ http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-08-23/nyc-life/close-up-on-two-bridges-manhattan/
  3. ↑ http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-08-23/nyc-life/close-up-on-two-bridges-manhattan/
  4. ↑ Jonathan Scheff: Two Bridges . In: AM New York , September 28, 2006. 
  5. ↑ http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-08-23/nyc-life/close-up-on-two-bridges-manhattan/
  6. ↑ http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-08-23/nyc-life/close-up-on-two-bridges-manhattan/
  7. ^ National Register of Historic Places Listings September 5, 2003 . September 5, 2003. Retrieved January 25, 2007.
  8. ^ Two Bridges District is designated for the State Register of Historic Places . In: Downtown Express , August 12-August 18, 2003. Retrieved August 22, 2009.