Brooklyn Bridge Struck by Crane Atop Barge

Mayhem In DUMBO/Bklyn Heights

Last night, my fiance and I decided to go pick up Mexican food at Calexico in Red Hook. We drove, bringing along Maisy for the ride so she can get a limo ride, the pampered pooch that she is. When we were approaching Old Fulton St., we saw several Fire Engine Companies taking up all the parking spaces towards the East River. We thought it may have been a fire above the New Grimaldi's at 1 Front St., but the emergency seemed a lot more serious then realized. There were droves of people at the Brooklyn Bridge Park checking out all the commotion, but didn't have any idea the enormity of the issue.

Maisy was mesmerized by all the commotion and all the red flashing lights, then again, Maisy, like all dogs are color blind, so she probably saw shades of white and gray. Shannon, my fiance' and I thought the worst, maybe a car had plunged off the bridge or something even more horrifying. Upon our return from picking up our food, we stopped at one of the fire engines, and a member of the FDNY, stated there was damage to the bridge. That gave both of us a sigh of relief and that no one was hurt in the ordeal.

A tugboat was hauling a crane towards the Verranzano Bridge around 8pm, people on both sides of the river heard a large scraping sound and was startled by the noise. Even those walking on the bridge were nervous about the structure may have been heavily damaged and immediately traversed to either side of the bridge, where they could see land beneath them. It was stated in the Gothamist that the tugboat and crane were ordered to steer towards Newark for an in depth investigation by the US Coast Guard. I do not believe the Captain of the tugboat is Italian, like the cruise ship that ran aground earlier in the year.

Maisy is not prone to such events of the human kind, but she gets scared off by loud noises, men in uniform, i.e. FDNY, NYPD, plumbers/electricians etc... So this morning, Maisy and I walked to the park to the damage in the cheerful morning sun. The damage is that of the undercarriage, where work crews have been repainting the underbelly of the bridge and no one was hurt, the work crews have already gone home for the day.

Here are some pictures taken this morning from DUMBO/Pier 1 at the Brooklyn Bridge and those from the Gothamist Website from last night.

The damage is directly above the FDNY fire boat.

The damage stretches 20' feet in length.

The damage is mid-span of The Brooklyn bridge.

Photo credited from the Gothamist Website. 

Traffic was backed up for miles from all directions.

FDNY's Bravest blocking traffic on the Brooklyn bound side.

A closer look at the enormity of the damage,

 I do not think the Captain of the boat is Italian.