Historedia
Episode 1 of 2

Opening of the Brooklyn Bridge

When
1883-05-24
Where
East River crossing
Part of
Opening of the Brooklyn Bridge and the 1883 stampede

The bridge opened on May 24, 1883, as the first fixed crossing of the East River, strengthening ties between Brooklyn and New York City.

The New York and Brooklyn Bridge was opened for use on May 24, 1883, becoming the first fixed crossing between Manhattan and Long Island. The bridge had cost $15.5 million to build, with Brooklyn paying two-thirds. The completion ended reliance on water transport, strengthening ties between the cities.

Sources

  1. Brooklyn Bridge Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-02
  2. Brooklyn Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-26

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.