Thursday, April 11, 2013

Welcome to NYC Bridge Runs

By way of background: I'm a recreational runner who moved recently to midtown Manhattan, from Canada.  Like many other aspects of living in NYC, running here can be frustrating or sublime. Crowded sidewalks, short blocks, aggressive drivers. Central Park is OK but for me the best part of running in NYC is the bridges: great views, long pathways without stopping at intersections, grade. 

Some bridges run better than others and pedestrian access points aren't always well-marked so I created this website as a bit of a guide to them.

Here are Manhattan's 19 runnable bridges out of the borough (in counterclockwise order from the southeast):
1. Brooklyn Bridge - reviewed here
2. Manhattan Bridge - reviewed here
3. Williamsburg Bridge
4. Queensboro Bridge - reviewed here
5. Roosevelt Island Bridge - reviewed here
6. Triborough / RFK Bridge (East River suspension bridge span from Wards Island to Queens)
7. Triborough / RFK Bridge (Bronx Kill span from Randall's Island to the Bronx)
8. Willis Avenue Bridge
9. Third Avenue Bridge
10. Madison Avenue Bridge
11. 145th Street Bridge
12. Macombs Dam Bridge
13. Acqueduct Bridge / High Bridge
14. Alexander Hamilton Bridge
15. Washington Bridge
16. University Heights Bridge
17. Broadway Bridge
18. Henry Hudson Bridge
19. George Washington Bridge

Honorable mention:
Wards Island Bridge / 103rd St Footbridge (technically both sides are in Manhattan) - reviewed here
Triborough / RFK Bridge (Harlem River span from Manhattan to Randalls Island - both sides are in Manhattan)
* Bridges between the other boroughs - at least those that allow pedestrians
* Railroad bridges - sadly only train passengers get to traverse the Manhattan bridges with the most badass (Hells Gate Bridge), elegant (Park Avenue Bridge) or challenging to pronounce (Spuyten Duyvil Bridge) names

Dishonorable mention:
* Bridges that don't allow pedestrians (Kosciuszko Bridge, Marine Parkway Gil Hodges Memorial and Verrazano Narrows except on Marathon Day)
* Tunnels - who wants to run in a tunnel anyway?

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