I had to walk to Manhattan early in the morning of September 12, 2022. Instead of taking public transportation, I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. The fog was a bit heavy that morning, obscuring the Freedom Tower and the rest of the Manhattan skyline. Using the Freedom Tower as a barometer, let us see how the fog progressed on my walk.
(Note: See links to higher resolution versions of each photo, upscaled with Upscayl, in the photo captions.)
Starting Across the Bridge
The first photo of this set came just after I stepped foot on the Brooklyn Bridge. According to my phone, I took this photo at 7:15 AM.
Firstly, for those of you who have crossed the Bridge in the past but have not done so in the last year or so, note that there is no longer a bike path on the walkway. It is 100-percent for pedestrians. To be sure, the Bridge still turns into a zoo during the afternoon, but it is far better than it was when half of the path was devoted to bikes.
But I digress.
It was a a little hazy when I stepped foot on the bridge, but you can see that all of the buildings across the East River, including the 1,776 foot tall Freedom Tower, are visible.
The First Tower
I then approached the first of two towers.
You can see the Freedom Tower through the frame created by the arch in the Bridge’s tower. The haze was settling in by the time I reached the first tower of the Brooklyn Bridge. In this shot, the haze is more pronounced close to the ground.
Aside, note the cables on the left side of the image. Last year, I published a short piece on an 1895 article which coined the Bridge at night the Cobweb Lane thanks to those very cables.
Between the Towers
My next photo comes from between the first and second towers.
The fog became significantly thicker in the few minutes it took me to advance a bit beyond the first tower. Almost all of the Freedom Tower, save for its top fifth or so, is obscured by fog. Interestingly, the tall buildings in front of it are happily unaffected here. That may change in my final photo.
Exiting the Bridge
I took one last photo when I had just about reached the exit of the Brooklyn Bridge. According to my phone, I took this photo at 7:29 AM, so only fourteen minutes had elapsed since I took the first photo of the set.
Do note that the Brooklyn Bridge is not a long Bridge for pedestrians. It should take most people somewhere in the range of 20-25 minutes to walk across. I kept a brisk pace despite stopping for a few photos, but I still most likely had about 4-5 minutes before I made it off the Bridge when I took this final photo.
As you can see, the fog had thickened dramatically in my walk across the Bridge. The Freedom Tower (all 104 stories of it) is nearly invisible save for its spire, and even that is heavily obscured. However, I will note that from this angle, that the fog seemed thicker higher up on the tower, whereas it seemed thicker closer to the bottom of the tower from between the first and second towers of the Brooklyn Bridge.
Epilogue
I completed my business in Manhattan just before 9:00 AM and began walking back to Brooklyn. The fog had by then completely lifted. This is good, for I previously noted that the Freedom Tower may present a danger to songbirds even in good conditions. I did not take any photos on my walk home (which included a detour to Battery Park, which featured in one prior New Leaf Journal article), but I published a photo of a pigeon that I took on the same walk back from Manhattan a few days earlier.