Designer Othmar Ammann had several plans for the bridge that would keep construction on its tight schedule. The two 377-foot (115 m) towers were constructed in a short 18 days and were the first to have no diagonal cross bracing. Unlike other suspension bridges, the Whitestone Bridge did not have a stiffening truss system. Instead, 11-foot (3.4 m) I-beam girders gave the bridge an art deco streamlined appearance.

The Bronx–Whitestone Bridge opened on April 29, 1939, in festivities led by then-Mayor of New York City Fiorello H. La Guardia. The bridge featured pedestrian walkways as well as four lanes of vehicular traffic, which carried 17,000 vehicles per day during the year 1940. The toll was 25 cents. The 2,300-foot (700 m) center span was the fourth longest in the world at the opening.

Shortly after taking the office of Parks Commissioner in 1934, Robert Moses (1888-1981) announced his plans for developing Wards Island. The City would connect it to Randall’s Island, a 195-acre island at the convergence of the East and Harlem Rivers just to the north. The two islands joined by landfill were to be cleared for playing fields and promenades that would take advantage of the Mid-Manhattan skyline views. The City transferred the parcels of land designated for the new Wards Island Park to Parks in 1936 and 1939. A local law of 1949 authorized the construction of the 103rd Street footbridge, built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1951, which finally accommodated pedestrian traffic from East Harlem. The footbridge leads directly into Wards Island Park and provides easy access to the playing fields, bicycle paths, and scenic waterfront.

Unlike many bridges proposed by Robert Moses, the Throgs Neck Bridge was not part of the circumferential highway network proposed in 1929 by the Regional Plan Association (RPA). With the postwar era dawning, Moses proposed a series of new bridges and connecting expressways to meet anticipated growth in vehicular traffic. One proposal in his 1945 plan had a “Throgs Neck” span situated two miles east of the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge.

The original spelling is “Throggs Neck”- from the Dutch, named for John Throckmorton, an Anabaptist from England who had lived in Rhode Island before he established a small settlement in 1642 in what is now the southeastern corner of the Bronx. It followed a treaty between the Weckquasgeeks and the Dutch negotiated by Jonas Bronck, for whom the borough was later named. In later years the name was shortened- one G was removed, to more easily fit on street signs.

-Victor Hugo

Roofs comprise almost 1/3 of New York City’s total horizontal impervious surfaces- using them to hold and control rain water would yield an immediate benefit.

To achieve this, the NYC DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) is testing two alternatives to conventional rooftop surfaces side by side- Blue Roofs and Green Roofs, on the roof of PS 118 in Queens.

Blue roofs are non-vegetated source controls that detain stormwater. Weirs (a small overflow dam) at the roof drain inlets and along the roof can create temporary ponding and gradual release of stormwater. Blue roofs are less costly than green roofs. Coupled with light colored roofing material they can provide sustainability benefits through rooftop cooling.

Green roofs consist of a vegetative layer that grows in a specially-designed soil, which sits on topof a drainage layer. Green roofs are more costly than conventional roofs but they are capable of absorbing and retaining large amounts of stormwater. In addition, green roofs provide sustainability benefits such as absorbing air and noise pollution, rooftop cooling by reducing UV radiation absorption, creating living environments for birds, and increasing the quality-of-life for residents.

Pratt Institute’s Myrtle Hall is a six-story, 120,000-square-foot green academic and administrative facility located at 536 Myrtle Avenue between Grand Avenue and Steuben Street. It houses the college’s Department of Digital Arts as well as several administrative offices.

Designed by the New York City architecture firm WASA/Studio A, the new building meets the United States Green Building Council standards for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification based on its eco-features that include exterior sun shades; a green roof that absorbs rainwater, reflects heat, and sequesters greenhouse gasses; and solar photo-voltaic panels that generate on-site electricity. It is the first higher education building project in Brooklyn to receive any LEED certification and the first academic building to receive a LEED-gold certification in Brooklyn.

After an undetermined length of time after the inital phone call, I did the double take. I was being asked to photograh Ken Smith IN one of his projects- not photograph ONE OF Ken Smith’s projects.

Pause…

Normally I don’t do portraits, let alone portraits of famous Architects.

THE UNIVERSE, as people will tell you, has a way of getting things done if you are open to having them done… to you. In the course of the last few months, I have photographed Mr. Smith’s ‘Elevated Acre’ and ‘East River Esplanade’. Now apparently, I was doing a portrait of Ken Smith himself.

In the rain, as it would turn out. Interview Style. I would have to leave Mr. Architectural Photographer at home, and brush up on my portrait skills, if indeed I had any. (I’m pretty sure I did- but where did I put them? Perhaps in the drawer with the Hassleblad)…