Page 276 - Demo

Pagq 10 May 17, 1973. PHOENIXBang-Up Party PlannedFor The Brooklyn Bridge,90 Years Old This Weekby KITTY TERJENFireworks accompanied the official opening of the Brooklyn Bridge on May 24, 1883, and fireworks will climaxthe Bridge%u2019s 90th birthday in 1973.Festivities surrounding the 90th birthday of the Brooklyn Bridge are especially extensive this year because the 75th anniversary of the consolidation of the five boroughs into the City of New York is being celebrated simultaneously. A full day of activities is set for Sunday, May 20, under the auspices of the city%u2019s Diamond Jubilee Com mittee.Also on May 20, the Long Island Historical Society, the South Street Seaport PRCA and the Academy of American Poets will team up for a poetry walk over the Bridge.May 24 - the day the bridge was officially opened 90 years ago - will bring further celebration. The Society of Old Brooklynites plans to unveil a memorial to Col. Washington A. Roebling, the Bridge%u2019s builder, at ceremonies in front of Borough Hall at noon. Concurrently, there will be a luncheon at LIU Brooklyn Center celebrating the opening of the Bridge and the rapidly progressing rehabilitation of the Downtown Brooklyn area.Pressure for a bridge connecting Brooklyn and Manhattan began during the winter of 1866 when the ice-choked East River made travel between the two cities difficult. A company was formed to construct the bridge and John A. Roebling, who was famous for building a suspension bridge over Niagara Fall, was named chief engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge project.After being injured on the job in 1869, Roebling passed the task on to his son, Col. Washington A. Roebling, who completed the bridge. The younger Roebling was also injured while working on the Bridge. In 1872 he contracted the bends and was paralyzed as a result of spending long hours working on bridge footings on the bed of the East River. He subsequently supervised the construction from his home on Columbia Heights. Thereafter,Emily Roebling did her husband%u2019s leg work and made the first official crossing of the bridge in 1881.After 13 years under planning and construction, the East River Bridge, as it was then called, was officially opened to the public. %u201cThe Bridge is the crowning glory of an age memorable for industrial achievements,%u201d one orator at the dedication pronounced. Among the dignitaries present for the opening were President Chester A. Arthur and then Governor of New York Grover Cleveland. The day ended with a spectacular display of fireworks.Ninety years later the Brooklyn Bridge still stands proud, a symbol to the borough of its past achievements and its promise of an even greater future. An extensive renaissance is now afoot in the borough. Cultural revitalization is prehaps the most evident, marked by the eastward migration of artists to the Fulton Ferry area, the musical marathons, dance and theatre at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the opening of galleries and newspapers, and a full calendar of community-centered festivals and events.Economically, there is a revival too, as evidenced by the resurgence of Downtowh Brooklyn and the brownstone renovation. Politics and civic-mindedness are also showing new signs of life.Festivities surrounding the celebration of the 90th birthday of the Brooklyn Bridge will attest to the borough%u2019s revival. Diverse works by local artists, photographer, sculptors and craftsmen will be on display along the Brooklyn Heights Esplanade from Remsen St. to Cranberry St. this weekend and next. Opened last weekend, the Promenade Art Show, sponsored by the Brooklyn Arts and Culture Association (BACA), has been a semi-annual event for the past 11 years.The Brooklyn Bridge BirthdayParty and the city%u2019s Diamond Jubilee celebration will converge this Sunday to create a day of exciting variety, beginning with a fair in City Hall Park, Manhattan, at 11 a. m. Traffic coming and going on the Brooklyn Bridge will be halted at 2 p.m. for a parade ledby Mayor Lindsay and four marching bands across the Brooklyn Bridge. Borough President Leone is scheduled to meet the parade at the Brooklyn tower of the bridge and lead the celebrants down to the old Fulton Ferry site.Reminiscent of an earlier era, a ferry will run between the Fulton Ferry and the South Sea Seaport during daylight hours Sunday. A minimal sum -probably 25 cents - will pay for this unique trip across the East River on the old fire boat %u201cWilks%u201d.A street fair at Fulton Ferry is expected to bring artists from the Promenade Art Show and %u201cGreat Bridge%u201d author David McCullough over from Manhattan. In addition, there will be a flea market,, rides for the children, ethnic food, entertainment, and tours of nearby landmarks.Open for inspection at 5 p.m. will be the Berglass Factory, recently designated a city landmark and set to be renovated into lofts for artists. The old Bank, now occupied and being renovated by two theatre groups, will also be open for the day.The Theatre of Madness, one of the groups now in residence in the old cast iron structure, will begin performing improvisations during the afternoon.Next door, the Bankside Boondocks will be serving soul food and drinks all day and from 6p.m., Nina Sheldon and ChrisWhite will add jazz tothe offerings of this intimate cabaret.Instead of its usual heap of garbage, the Fulton Ferry site will be filled from afternoon to evening Sunday with wandering minstrels and troubadors. Garbage men began working last week to clean up the site so there will be room for all the fun.A highlight of the afternoon will be a visit from Saeko Ichinoche and Company, a Japanese dance company in performance at the Brooklyn Academy this week.After many successes at Lincoln Center, Total Theatre for Youth is coming to Brooklyn for the celebration. Other groups parA bird's eye view of Brooklyn and the Bridge from the Manhattan side, around the turn of theCentury. Courtesy South Street Seaport Museum.A turn-of-the-ceticipating in the Bridge celebratioi at the Fulton Ferry site Sunday include the Brooklyn Youth Centei Steel Band; the Ethno Mods, < borough-based jazz group; th< Muskrat Banjo Band; the House o Children, a local folk tale group and a rock group called Louii Urlander and the Stingrays.Up the hill at Cadman Plazc Park, the Brooklyn College Symphonic Band will give a con cert at 6:30 p.m. That will be followed by another concert at th< Fulton Ferry site where tht Mannes College of Music Wine Ensemble will play Handel%u2019s Fire and Water music. The concert wil be capped by an elaborate fireworks display on the Easi River which is being arranged bj George Plimpton in his latest role as a pyrotechnist.While festivites are underway al Fulton Ferry, more will be going on both in Manhattan and in othei parts of Brooklyn.The South St. Seaport is celebrating the 90th Birthday of the Bridge as well as the 100th An niversary of the United States Line and the 125th anniversary of the East River Savings Bank with three big birthday cakes which wil be cut and served free to the neonleat 12:30 p.m. Sunday .Later in the day, South St Seaport will co-sponsor a poetic salute to the Bridge with the Long Island Historical Society, the Academy of American Poets anc PRCA. Poetry readings anc exhibitions of old bridge