Crepes & Caissons

May 21, 2022June 11, 2022 by Jessica In New York City, USA Leave a comment

As a disclaimer: These photos were taken during a visit in February/March 2016, so this post may not be representative of this site today.

Marie Belle

How cute is this cacao bar? I still remember the hot chocolate I had here, how rich it was, and how the cream they serve it with became an absolute necessity after I had my first sip. The crepes were also delicious, and the décor… I mean, look.

Brooklyn Bridge

Spanning the East River and connecting the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Bridge opened on May 24, 1883. At the time, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world.

Originally called the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, or the East River Bridge, it acquired its present name in 1915.

The bridge uses a combination of steel-wire suspension bridge and cable-stayed design. Its stone towers were made in the neo-Gothic style, and are 85 meters (278 feet) tall, built of limestone, granite, and Rosendale cement.

At the time of its construction, New York and Brooklyn were still separate cities, and the only way to travel between them was by ferry. While designs had been proposed for a bridge, they had all been deemed too difficult, as the East River was exceedingly busy. Tunnels were also proposed, but their expense kept them from being realized. John Augustus Roebling, a German architect who had immigrated to New York, proposed the current bridge in 1852.

A near-final design was completed in 1867, but while surveying for changes, Roebling sustained an injury that eventually led to his death, and so his son, Washington Roebling, took over the project. Official construction began in 1870.

Participation in the building of the project’s caissons, large chambers that allow for construction underwater, led to the younger Roebling eventually catching “caisson disease,” or decompression sickness. This so debilitated him that he had to direct the building of the bridge remotely, with the help of his wife, Emily Warren Roebling, who herself had a great understanding of mathematics and engineering. She proved an asset in the supervision of the bridge construction for the next eleven years, and was the first person to officially cross the bridge at its opening.