Building of the Throgs Neck Bridge

**Glenn** · 05-26-2012, 01:36 PM

Hi all, a few years back one of my cousins wrote a book about Queens NY.

He was able to attain areal images of the building of the Throgs Neck Bridge.

What is special about this to me is, my family lived in the building at the bottom left hand corner of this image since the building went up. The Queens side there is Whitstone, or the Beechhurst section of Queens.

I too lived in that building until 1986 when I moved to Florida.

My granddad may he rest in peace watched the bridge go up.

As well the clearing between the building corner left and the white looking building near the water right where the house is, there now stands a 20 story building called the Cryder House. Granddad also watched the building of that too.

This image is looking north, the land mass top left is the tip of the Bronx where Ft Schuyler Navy Training academy, and ship resides.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Schuyler

I have several more images to scan, will post them up laters.

Enjoy !

**Tony8179** · 05-26-2012, 04:34 PM

Very cool history. Thank you Glenn.

**captainblowhole** · 05-26-2012, 11:17 PM

I keep thinking of that last house in the clearing. He was probably like the last hold out for the development and he stood his ground as all around him, the scenery changed from rural to city, and he probably thought "Well, at least I have my bay view.." and then they build the bridge..haha. It sucks, but obviously that was probably the one major thing that irked him his whole life. He must have had a nice big plot of land, from the picture, and as it all was sold off around him, he probably got more and more loathsome of progress. I wonder how he made out in the end?

On a side note, I grew up in Great Neck, right at the Queens border, and this was the early 80's and I was maybe 16 but I somehow met a girl from Bayside over the phone. This was long before even the age of beepers and cells, but she wanted to meet up, so I was a kid and therefore didnt drive or know anyone that could take me, so I walked along Northern Blvd up to the Cross Island. The I just started walking along the service rd and the pathway on the side side and she said "meet me under the bridge at noon" and I had no idea what she would look like or even if she would meet me, but I was desperate and amazingly, managed to locate her and she was actually hot. We fooled around a while and it was my first time getting to 1st base. Haha. Then I had to go home and I remember that long walk back with blue balls and a smile on my pimply face.

**Glenn** · 05-26-2012, 11:50 PM

The white house. Was that of the Oscar Hammerstein estate. Both I and II

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Hammerstein_I

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Hammerstein_II

They owned all of that land. The white house was relocated to the very far right on the land are to the right of the white building, to it's other side , The structure stands today. Here is reference to it in archive after a fire/rebuild, now larger .

http://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/15/re...som-again.html

The building is referred to as "Ripples On The Water, and now books events , marriages etc.

Here is a Ariel view today using google maps of the "red brick" building to the far left corner, from here you can pan and zoom etc.

The "A" was our family's residence, the building with wings front and back. And you can now see the 20 story building standing where the white house was.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=162-4...ork+11357&z=17

**Glenn** · 05-27-2012, 12:19 PM

Another image, this is still from the Queens side looking north to the Bronx Ariel but from further east. The land mass bottom right is Ft Totten

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Totten_(New_York)

**AJD1** · 05-30-2012, 07:35 AM

Nice pics Glenn and love anything nastalgic looking,like these..

My late uncle,Richard Beckford, re-designed the lighting,on the Brooklyn bridge,as a lead Engineer in NYC,

for many years and i love anything "bridges" since i was a kid..

Ask your cousin if he knows of him...

He died a few years back and had an office in Tower 1,for many years,prior to it falling..

Good find!