Bridge on the way to the Rockaways (Veteran: to live, design)

[canyontothesky]

My dad grew up in Belle Harbor in the Rockaways, and my grandmother continued to live there until the early 2000s, so all of my childhood we drove there from Massachusetts. On one inbound trip, I recall a strange bridge, a route which we took only once or twice, and there's a possibility it was a dream because I was somewhere between 5-8 years old.

I remember this bridge being tall and steep, almost like the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, but with the steel X-like pattern of the George Washington Bridge. We drove up the bridge, which you could see from far away and there was a lot of traffic leading up to it, and it felt like it was a 45+ degree angle, but also you could take your car on an elevator that would lift you to the top or something.

It sounds like a dream, obviously, but I wonder if it was based on a real bridge somewhere in the city? Is there a bridge that has an arch-shape, or maybe one of those bridges that moves up in the middle to allow ships to pass under? I remember the approach to the bridge looked a lot like the one coming into Manhattan on the Queensboro, like a 5-6 lane highway with no tall buildings around it as you approach the bridge.

This is so silly, I know, but I never thought to ask until just now. Haha.

[nyctovt]

Google for images of The Gil Hodges/Marine Parkway bridge and also the Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge.Your description sounds kinda,sorta like it could be the Gil Hodges-Marine Parkway Bridge,but take a look at both on Google images to see if it jars your memory.

[SeventhFloor]

you're probably thinking of two bridges: either the goethals bridge which connects staten island to elizabeth, nj or the bayonne bridge, which connects staten island to bayonne, nj.

[baylovers]

I went through my photos and this is the only one I have of the Marine Parkway - Gil Hodges bridge. The criss-cross design fits your description, but the steepness of it does not.

[canyontothesky]

Of course, all of these bridges look familiar because I've been on them all, but it's an interesting combination, here. It's definitely not the Cross Bay Bridge because that is the bridge we usually took (as that's the obvious way to get to the Rockaways). But the Marine Parkway bridge does have the middle-raising feature, as does the Goethals. The Bayonne bridge definitely most resembles the bridge I'm imagining. Though I don't understand why we would have gone to Queens via New Jersey, seems like a really long winded way to get there. It does sound like I'm combining two bridges! Maybe I did!

[Fred314X]

If you were coming down from Massachusetts, you probably would have entered Queens from either the Throgs Neck or Whitestone Bridge.