Editing Brooklyn Bridge (section)

===Walkway===
[[File:BrooklynBridgeNoPeople.png|upright|left|alt=The Brooklyn Bridge's elevated pedestrian promenade|thumb|The Brooklyn Bridge's elevated pedestrian promenade, near one of the "pinch points" where the cables descend below the height of the girders]]

The Brooklyn Bridge has an elevated promenade open to pedestrians in the center of the bridge, located {{Convert|18|ft|m|abbr=}} above the automobile lanes.<ref name="nyt19850816" /> The promenade is usually located {{Convert|4|ft|m|abbr=}} below the height of the girders, except at the approach ramps leading to each tower's balcony.<ref name="BBPr p. 26-27" /> The path is generally {{Convert|10|to|17|ft|abbr=}} wide,<ref name="amny20160809" /><ref name="BBPr p. 26-27" /> though this is constrained by obstacles such as protruding cables, benches, and stairways, which create "pinch points" at certain locations.<ref>{{harvnb|ps=.|Brooklyn Bridge Promenade|2016|pp=16–19}}</ref> The path narrows to {{Convert|10|ft}} at the locations where the main cables descend to the level of the promenade. Further exacerbating the situation, these "pinch points" are some of the most popular places to take pictures.<ref>{{harvnb|ps=.|Brooklyn Bridge Promenade|2016|pp=18, 22–23}}</ref> As a result, in 2016, the NYCDOT announced that it planned to double the promenade's width.<ref name="amny20160809" /><ref name="nyt20160809" />

A center line was painted to separate cyclists from pedestrians in 1971, creating one of the city's first dedicated bike lanes.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/04/01/archives/brooklyn-bridge-opens-special-bicycle-ramps.html|title=Brooklyn Bridge Opens Special Bicycle Ramps|date=April 1, 1971|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|access-date=July 5, 2019}}</ref> Initially, the northern side of the promenade was used by pedestrians and the southern side by cyclists. In 2000, these were swapped, with cyclists taking the northern side and pedestrians taking the southern side.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/12/nyregion/turf-marks-gone-battle-erupts-on-brooklyn-bridge.html|title=Turf Marks Gone, Battle Erupts on Brooklyn Bridge|last=Stewart|first=Barbara|date=October 12, 2000|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref> On September 14, 2021, the NYCDOT closed off the left-side car lane on the Manhattan-bound side with protective barriers and fencing to create a new bike path, and cyclists were banned from the upper pedestrian lane.<ref name="Offenhartz 2021" /><!-- {{As of|2016|}}, more than 4,000 pedestrians and 3,100 cyclists cross the Brooklyn Bridge each day.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/infrastructure/brooklyn-bridge.shtml|title=Brooklyn Bridge|publisher=NYC DOT|access-date=March 22, 2016}}</ref>-->

Pedestrian access to the bridge from the Brooklyn side is from either the median of Adams Street at its intersection with Tillary Street or a staircase near Prospect Street between Cadman Plaza East and West. In Manhattan, the pedestrian walkway is accessible from crosswalks at the intersection of the bridge and Centre Street, or through a staircase leading to Park Row.<ref name="google" /><ref>{{harvnb|ps=.|Brooklyn Bridge Promenade|2016|pp=15–16}}</ref>

====Emergency use====
[[File:BrooklynBridgeWalkwayCrowd.jpg|thumb|The elevated pedestrian promenade crowded with people, in the evening, during the summer season.]]

While the bridge has always permitted the passage of pedestrians, the promenade facilitates movement when other means of crossing the East River have become unavailable. During transit strikes by the [[Transport Workers Union of America|Transport Workers Union]] in [[1980 New York City transit strike|1980]] and [[2005 New York City transit strike|2005]], people commuting to work used the bridge; they were joined by Mayors [[Ed Koch]] and [[Michael Bloomberg]], who crossed as a gesture to the affected public.<ref>{{cite news |title=Koch Faces Day Ebulliently; He Looks Well Rested |first=Anna |last=Quindlen |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/04/02/archives/koch-faces-day-ebulliently-he-looks-well-rested.html |newspaper=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331 |date=April 2, 1980 |access-date=June 30, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=On Foot, On Bridge and at City Hall, Bloomberg Is Irate |first=Jim |last=Rutenberg |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/21/nyregion/nyregionspecial3/21mayor.html |newspaper=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331 |date=December 21, 2005 |access-date=June 30, 2010}}</ref> Pedestrians also walked across the bridge as an alternative to suspended subway services following the [[Northeast Blackout of 1965|1965]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/11/10/archives/snarl-at-rush-hour-spreads-into-9-states-10000-in-the-national.html|title=Snarl at Rush Hour Spreads Into 9 States; 10,000 In the National Guard and 5,000 Off-Duty Policemen Are Called to Service in New York|last=Kihss|first=Peter|date=November 10, 1965|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|access-date=July 5, 2019}}</ref> [[New York City blackout of 1977|1977]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/07/14/archives/lightning-apparently-to-blame-some-suburbs-affected-power-failure.html|title=Lightning Apparently to Blame – Some Suburbs Affected|last=McFadden|first=Robert D|date=July 14, 1977|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|access-date=July 5, 2019}}</ref> and [[2003 North America blackout|2003]] [[power outage|blackouts]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/15/nyregion/15STUC.html|title=In Subways, In Traffic, In Elevators: All Stuck|last=Scott|first=Janny|date=August 15, 2003|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|access-date=July 5, 2019}}</ref> and after the September 11 attacks.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/12/us/a-day-of-terror-the-rivers-a-battered-retreat-on-bridges-to-the-east.html|title=A Day of Terror: The Rivers; A Battered Retreat On Bridges To the East|last=Sengupta|first=Somini|date=September 12, 2001|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|access-date=July 5, 2019}}</ref>

During the 2003 blackouts, many crossing the bridge reported a swaying motion.<ref name="voice">{{cite news |title=Point of Collapse |first=Robert |last=Julavits |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/news/point-of-collapse-6409543 |newspaper=[[The Village Voice]] |date=August 26, 2003 |access-date=January 17, 2016}}</ref> The higher-than-usual pedestrian load caused this swaying, which was amplified by the tendency of pedestrians to synchronize their footfalls with a sway.<ref>{{harvnb|ps=.|Strogatz|2003|pages=[https://archive.org/details/syncemergingscie00stro/page/174 174–175, 312, 320]}}</ref> Several engineers expressed concern about how this would affect the bridge, although others noted that the bridge did withstand the event and that the redundancies in its design—the inclusion of the three support systems (suspension system, diagonal stay system, and stiffening truss)—make it "probably the best secured bridge against such movements going out of control".<ref name="voice" /> In designing the bridge, John Roebling had stated that the bridge would sag but not fall, even if one of these structural systems were to fail altogether.<ref name="McCullough pp. 32-33" />

{{Clear}}

{{Wide image|Brooklyn Bridge panorama.jpg|1000px|Panorama of Brooklyn Bridge, with the [[Manhattan Bridge]] behind it, and the [[Williamsburg Bridge]] visible farther in the background}}