Bridges and Choruses...

A cloudy day

Sunrise

A cold, gray day

This is the East River and the Triborough Bridge aka RFK Bridge, as viewed from my living room.  Many people have stories about their first NYC apartments being  grubby basement closets without any light. I think the universe decided to cut me a break and I landed a spacious (for NYC) and inexpensive (for NYC) pad with a great view! The Triborough Bridge, which was renamed Robert F. Kennedy Bridge in 2008 after the one time NY state Senator's death, was built during the Great Depression. It opened in 1936, and as the story goes, a 10 year old boy named Anthony Benetto (who was from Astoria, Queens, and who would spend much of his childhood gazing across the river at the bright lights of Manhattan dreaming of stardom) sang the national anthem in front of then President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and then Mayor Fiorello La Guardia. That boy grew up to be famous for leaving his heart in San Francisco, but he is a tried and true New Yorker- Tony Bennett! The bridge, which is technically made of three bridges, connects Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx (thus tri borough.)

There are thousands of associations to the Brooklyn Bridge, Queensboro Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge, etc... but I can't think of a single film, book, or song in relation to the Triborough Bridge. So, I'm going to throw out something random. When I think of bridges, Nicolas Roeg's 1973 film Don't Look Now comes to mind. It is based on a short story by Daphne du Maurier (whose work was translated to film several times by Alfred Hitchcock). Most of the film was shot in Venice so there are of course  "little bridges" everywhere, which aside from being used symbolically in the film, add an eerie and disorienting maze-like setting.  If you like creepy movies, this is a classic:

Association Game: Bridges are featured prominently in so many films, books, and songs. What artistic piece comes to mind when you think of 'bridges'?

"I was lost, the losin' dice were tossed/ My bridges all were crossed, nowhere to go/ Now you're here and now I know just where I'm goin'/ No more doubt or fear, I found my way/ For love came just in time/ You found me just in time/ And changed my lonely life that lovely day" --Tony Bennett, Just In Time