My wife, her sister & I just returned from 3 nights in mid town Manhatten January 4, 5 & 6 after last visiting 45 years ago. We had a wonderful time, saw many sights with sunny weather in upper 30s (if you keep walking & wrapped up your body heat makes upper 30s OK). The ladies shopped South Street Seaport below the Brooklyn Bridge while I walked to the opposit side. The wind was blowing 10-15 mph which wasn't too bad with the noon time sun shining. Pedestrians safely access the bridge by a stair well near St. James Place close to the East River rather than by City Hall Park where car traffic enters. The wooden walkway is reserved for walkers & bikers, and is on a level above all traffic so the Manhatten, Brooklyn and harbor views are not obstructed and noise is limited. There are frequent benches to sit and enjoy the sights, but walkers and daydreamers need to be careful of bikers going downhill! Actually the right side toward Brooklyn is intended for walkers and the left side for bikers with only a yellow line separating the two. Officially the bridge measures 6,016', but this must be from ramp to ramp where cars enter. The walk to the opposit side and back did not seem at all that far, and was made enjoyable by the spectacular view and watching people go by. The Brooklyn Bridge must be a wonderful walk on a summer evening looking over Manhatten. I am proud to tell my children & grandchild that I walked the Brooklyn Bridge.

Thanx a mint for this Bob. We'll be sure to walk it next time we're in NYC!

It's a great walk, all right, I just wish the World Trade Center was still part of that great view from Brooklyn!

Bob, thanks for sharing your thoughts. We walked the Brooklyn Bridge on our last trip to NYC with our kids. We have beautiful pictures of the NYC skyline, including the WTC, we took in May. I'm glad we took the time to take our kids there. They will have the memory too. Another favorite bridge to walk accross is the Rainbow Bridge which crosses the Niagara River in Niagara Falls, connecting the US to Canada. It's a relatively small bridge, and not anywhere near as beautiful as the Brooklyn Bridge, but it provides a magnificent view of the Falls that you cannot get from any other vista.

Yes Brooklyn Bridge is a great walk. We did it December 2000 and like Rachel have some lovely pictures including the WTC. We plan to return to NYC in May and will walk it again and take the picture from the same spot - I guess that will be a very moving "before and after".

I live at the Brooklyn side of the bridge, and enjoy walking/biking across it on weekends. (A warning to visitors - stay on the pedestrian side, or you're likely to be hit by a cyclist - I've hit several people who suddenly jumped in my way...nothing serious though.)

I just wanted to let you in on a little secret: the Manhattan Bridge is now open to pedestrians, too! It attaches right into Canal Street, and is an amazing, beautiful walk. There is about 1/1000th the pedestrian traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge. And the view is even better...because you can see the entire Brooklyn Bridge from there (hee hee) and instead of being in the middle of the bridge above the traffic, you're on the south side of the bridge below the traffic. The only downsides (I guess) are that trains pass over the bridge near the walkway, so it's sometimes a bit rumbly, and the Brooklyn end of the walkway leaves you off kind of in the middle of nowhere.

Walking bridges sounds like one of the "TOP MUST THINGS TO SEE & DO" on anybody's list while in NYC.

for Andriette