Opened in 1909, the Queensboro Bridge is the longest bridge spanning the East River. The bridge had an immediate and profound effect on the development of Queens from a largely rural area into a bedroom and working community. With its graceful symmetry, the bridge has long been a source of inspiration for artists, songwriters, and authors. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel made it an icon for the 1960s with the song Â“The 59th Street Bridge Song (FeelinÂ’ Groovy),Â” and more recently it was featured in the movie Spiderman. Through historic photographs, The Queensboro Bridge documents the creation of this cultural icon and its contributions to the history of New York.

The Queensboro Bridge (Images of America: New York)

Arts & Photography

The Greater Astoria Historical Society

The Roosevelt Island Historical Society

Photography & Video

Arcadia Publishing

<p>In the early years of the 20th century, Queens County underwent an enormous transformation. The Queensboro Bridge of 1909 forever changed the landscape of this primarily rural area into the urban metropolis it is today. Forgotten Queens shows New York’s largest borough between the years 1920 and 1950, when it was adorned with some of the finest model housing and planned communities anywhere in the country. Victorian mansions, cookie-cutter row houses, fishing shacks, and beachside bungalows all coexisted next to workplaces and commercial areas. Beckoning with the torch of the new century and a bright promise for those who dared to pioneer its urban wilderness, Queens flourished as a community. Through vintage photographs being seen by the public for the first time, the five wards of Queens are highlighted for their unique character and history.</p>

Forgotten Queens (Images of America)

Walsh, Kevin

<p>Long Island City captures the unique flavor of a former city (1870-1898) nestled between Manhattan and Queens that retains its identity to this day. Created by consolidating Old Astoria Village, Steinway, Ravenswood, Dutch Kills, Blissville, Sunnyside, and the Long Island Rail Road terminal in Hunters Point, it has been an industrial dynamo since the Civil War. It is home to creative people and innovative ideas, the Steinway piano factory, the movie industry, the Information Age, and a growing list of museums and galleries. Minutes from midtown Manhattan, it is again a magnet for new generations seeking the charms of a small town with the advantages of a great city.</p>

Long Island City

History

Jackson, Thomas

Melnick, Richard

Americas

Arcadia Publishing Library Editions

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Books by The Greater Astoria Historical Society