Throgs Neck Bridge Celebrates Five Decades as Bronx-Queens Span by Mike Jaccarino - NY Daily News

Read original...

Throgs Neck Bridge fans had nothing but praise for the scenic 50-year-old span.

The Throgs Neck Bridge, the graceful span that connects the Bronx with Queens and Long Island, turns 50 this Tuesday.

For five decades, folks have motored across it to visit family, girlfriends and old pals, separated by the Long Island Sound and East River.

"I want to wish it the happiest of birthdays - this venerable public servant, the Throgs Neck Bridge," said Ken Kearns, district manager for Community Board 10 in the Bronx. "The ride across it is scenic and beautiful."

Workers broke ground on the bridge on Oct. 22, 1957. Three years, two months and 20 days later, city officials, including Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority Chairman Robert Moses, cut the ribbon on the span.

The bridge consists of an 1,800-foot long center span and two 555-feet side spans.

The Bronx tower of the bridge is also home to a Peregrine falcon family that returns each spring to nest and hatch its new chicks.

"Compared to the Whitestone, the Triborough and the Verrazano bridges this one doesn't really have the looks, although it serves its purpose solidly," said Jeffrey Kroessler, a Queens author and archivist at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

"Two cheers for Robert Moses for getting it built," he said. "Can you imagine the amount of traffic on the Whitestone [Bridge] without it?"

The Bayside Historical Society will devote an exhibit on the Throgs Neck's history starting May 1. The display will chronicle the history of its construction, including photos of the 400 Queens homes that were either relocated or destroyed to make way for Moses' project.

"It's such an important structure," said Alison McKay, a historical society archivist. "We overlook the bridge all the time."

Bronxite and borough business owner John Bonizio said the bridge will always remind him of his youth.

"I remember my first car, a '69 Mustang, and when I got the car it was a tradition in the Bronx that friends and family would throw a pocket full of change into the car for good luck," he said.

"The toll was only 75 cents and when I would go over the Throgs Neck bridge, I would just reach down and pick up all those loose quarters and dimes that people had thrown into my car."

Jim McQuade, 64, owner of Schuyler Hill Funeral Home in Throgs Neck, lives in the shadow of the bridge in Locust Point.

"The bridge has always been a source of tranquility and peace in my life through the years," he said. "Just sitting on the back porch, having the beautiful view of the bridge, looking at Fort Schuyler - there's not a more peaceful view in the city."

Moses had pushed to have the bridge open before the 1964 World's Fair, of which he was also the president.

About 20 minutes after the ribbon cutting, the dignitaries sped across the brand new Throgs Neck Bridge for the second ceremony of the day - the dedication of the first World's Fair structure at Flushing Meadow-Corona Park.

Three summers ago, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. took his sons jet-skiing on City Island.

"We worked our way south, and together we went underneath the Throgs Neck Bridge," said Diaz. "I remember looking up, thinking about how great of a scene it was and being happy that I was able to enjoy it with my family."

Diaz added that, now, when he looks upon the bridge, he can't help but think about that afternoon and his pride over being a New Yorker.With Leigh Remizowski

mjaccarino@nydailynews.com

Verrazano Peregrine Falcon Couple Adopts Two: - www.rockawave.com - Wave of Long Island

Read original...


Two peregrine falcon chicks found in an unsuitable nesting place in Queens were relocated to the top of the Brooklyn tower of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge where they were welcomed into the nest by a mother falcon already caring for three new chicks of her own.

“The mother took in the adopted chicks without question and has been feeding them and watching over them as if they were always part of her brood,” said Verrazano Narrows General Manager Daniel DeCrescenzo. “It’s truly nature at its best.”

Chris Nadareski, a wildlife biologist with the city Department of Environmental Protection, who coordinates the city peregrine falcon program in cooperation with the State Department of Environmental Conservation, said the relocation was necessary because the chicks would have had trouble safely leaving the nest area while learning how to fly.

The two adopted chicks were moved on May 28, and a few days later, the two male and three female chicks were one big happy family.

This means that MTA Bridges and Tunnels, in addition to the Verrazano’s two male and three female chicks, is home to a total of 11 new peregrine falcons this year.

Four females hatched at Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge in Queens and two more, a boy and a girl, hatched atop the Bronx tower at the Throgs Neck Bridge.

The Verrazano chicks have the most sweeping view of New York Bay from their perch 693 feet above the water at the Brooklyn tower.

The Throgs Neck birds are 360 feet up on the Bronx tower, and the new falcons at the Marine Parkway Bridge have the most unusual nest; inside an old World War II gun turret 215 feet above the water on the Rockaway side of the bridge.

Scientist: Throgs Neck Rehab Dumped Toxins into Little Bay by Joe Kemp - NY Daily News

Read original...

A bridge rehabilitation project that already has a list of snafus - including the death of a worker and a fire that resulted in weeks of snarled traffic - is being charged with yet another potential hazard: the dumping of high levels of lead and mercury in the water.

The blasting of lead-based paint on the Throgs Neck Bridge, the 2,300-foot span that connects Queens and the Bronx, may have contaminated the waters of Little Bay, according to an environmental scientist.

"I'm not by any means trying to attack the MTA [Bridges and Tunnels]," said Dr. James Cervino, an environmental scientist who serves on the Task Force on Health Effects of Toll Plaza Air Quality in New York City, a state panel.

"I want to urge them to start collecting samples and work with the community," Cervino said.

The MTA, however, argues that the bridge project has met all environmental safety requirements, and the new claims are simply unfounded.

"The process was performed in full containment, with additional restrictions imposed on work performed near sensitive locations," said MTA Bridges and Tunnels vice president Catherine Sweeney in a response letter sent last week.

According to the agency's monitoring of 103 dust-producing work days on the bridge, no dangerous levels of potentially harmful metals were emitted.

But those tests should have included more samples, Cervino said.

"They only tested air," he said, adding that his findings came from the water and the land along the shoreline of the bay.

Although his tests were preliminary, Cervino and community leaders plan to hire an independent laboratory to conduct a more thorough examination of the samples. The results of which should be known by mid-January, he said.

"We're grateful to [Cervino]," said state Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose). "He's been more often right than wrong."

Considering the safety of the residents, Padavan hopes the new tests only prove the agency's claim that the area is toxin-free.

"I'd like them to be right," he said.

Concerned locals also hope the results don't reveal any threats to their health.

"I coach soccer under that bridge," said Anthony Melone, 44, the father of two young children. "Those kids roll around all over that field. This is ridiculous."

jkemp@nydailynews.com

They’re Bridge Chicks, and 5 Join the Falcon Flock by Sewell Chan - City Room Blog - NYTimes.com

Read original...

Five peregrine falcon chicks have been hatched in recent weeks in nests atop the towers of the Verrazano-Narrows, Throgs Neck and Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridges, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced on Thursday.

Photo caption: Three chicks — two female and a male — were born at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.

The Verrazano-Narrows falcons were two females and a male, while the Throgs Neck and Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges each had a male. The Throgs Neck chick hatched four weeks ago, and the other four hatched three weeks ago.

This week, a state volunteer wildlife expert placed metal bands around the chicks’ feet, with numbers to identify and track the birds as they grow and reproduce. Peregrine falcons are still on the state endangered species list, although they are no longer on the federal list.

Urban falcons typically nest atop bridges, church steeples and high-rise buildings, because the high locations enable them to hunt prey, including pigeons and small birds. In 2008, the State Department of Environmental Conservation documented 67 pairs of peregrine falcons living in New York City.

M.T.A. Bridges and Tunnels has taken steps to accommodate the birds. At the Throgs Neck, the peregrine nesting box was moved from the 360-foot Queens tower to the Bronx tower during a 2007 painting project. “We have a good relationship with the falcons because we’re like absentee landlords,” said Ray Higgins, the maintenance superintendent at the bridge, said in a statement. “We set them up with a nice place to live and then try not to bother them.”

Photo caption: A male chick was born atop the Throgs Neck Bridge four weeks ago.

William McCann, a maintenance superintendent whom M.T.A. Bridges and Tunnels called “the keeper of the nest at the Verrazano,” said in a statement, “The falcons have been on this bridge longer than I have, and I’ve been here 28 years.”

Mr. McCann’s main role, when it comes to the birds, is simply to keep bridge maintenance activities and make sure the birds are left alone.

The falcons’ original box nest was underneath the lower-level roadway until 2000, when a painting project began and containment shrouds were put up. Workers responded by installing two boxes — one atop the Brooklyn tower, the other atop the Brooklyn pedestal. The falcons chose the former, and have returned each mating season.

Photo caption: A male chick was born at the Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge.

At the Marine Parkway bridge, the nesting box is located 215-feet above the water, on the Rockaway side of the bridge, inside a World War II-era gun turret.

“Next year they’ll get an upgrade because the wood inside the original box is badly split and it is dangerous for the chicks,” said Carlton Cyrus, the maintenance superintendent for the span.

The birds grow quickly. They are expected to start flying from atop the bridge towers in the next two weeks, “and by July will leave for unknown destinations,” the authority said.