OCEAN AVENUE BRIDGE, Sheepshead Bay

by Kevin Walsh

Spanning Sheepshead Bay just west of Ocean Avenue is a weird, wooden bridge with a low fence that looks as if you could easily jump over it into the bay, or even get knocked over if sufficiently jostled. The bridge has a very old pedigree: it was first opened by Long Island Rail Road king Austin Corbin in 1880, and after a few false starts (Corbin kept closing the bridge since he thought “undesirables” would frequent his development, then-exclusive Manhattan Beach) there has been a pedestrian bridge here almost continuously since. It’s called the Ocean Avenue Bridge, even though it’s a block west of Ocean Avenue on the north side.

You can still get a ticket for riding a bicycle across the bridge; one time, as I was crossing, I discovered one of the wooden rail sections missing, making a dip in the bay a real possibility for the unwary. The bridge was lit by mini-versions of the old Belt Parkway “woodie” poles ; faux bishop crook fixtures were installed in the late 1990s, though one “Woodie” on the south side is still there.

Seen on the right is the old Lundy’s Restaurant building, which served seafood to Brooklynites for generations from 1937 to 1979 and again from 1997-2007, though the second iteration was inferior to the first, much like Ebinger’s baked goods. The building now hosts several small businesses.

4/25/15

 

6 comments

NY2AZ April 25, 2015 - 9:58 am

Sounds like a “slip & fall” lawyer’s dream. “Better Call Saul” binge watchers will be inspired.

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James Phillips April 26, 2015 - 7:56 pm

I will never forget the sight of yachts and sailboats rammed into the bridge from the wind and high waves from Hurricane Sandy. They looked liked toys capsized in the bathtub. Right now, the bridge is closed for renovations.

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Dr. A. J. Lepere April 26, 2015 - 10:11 pm

It actually comes out between Sheepshead Bay Road and East 19th Street (closer to 19th street. Has been closed (for repairs) since the beginning of winter and was still closed last week when I took a bike ride in Manhatten beach!

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Kevin Walsh April 28, 2015 - 9:17 am

I shot it in December

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Larry April 27, 2015 - 6:38 am

We would go to Lundy’s for a Shore dinner on Sundays and it would be packed….The Ocean Ave trolley. later bus, ended right out side so we could take a great ride home to Flatbush after a great meal

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Jerome Emmons XII May 18, 2015 - 6:46 pm

What used to crack me up about the slightly off-named (more in line with East 19th Street) bridge as a kid in the 70s was the warning sign on it:

“DO NOT MAKE FAST OVER THIS BRIDGE”.

To me, it sounded like something an old Italian uncle would struggle to say in his best attempt at English.

An alternative interpretation, which I didn’t think of at the time, could be that food-free religious rituals were forbidden on the bridge.

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