This truss bridge formerly carried Vernon Boulevard over a Long Island Rail Road open cut at 48th Avenue in Hunters Point. It was torn down in the early 1990s, and the cut has since been mostly filled in with a park.
12/23/12
VERNON BOULEVARD BRIDGE
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I have worked, part-time and full-time in Long Island City since the 1960’s and remember this bridge very well. Early plans for the redevelopment of Queens West (one of several names for the project) included leaving the Vernon Boulevard Bridge in place and converting the rail cut into a roadway. That would have created an “express” thoroughfare into the the new residential area while eliminating a grade-level intersection at Vernon Boulevard. The bridge had not been painted for decades and had become an eyesore. Several local business groups advocated for this new use for the bridge and pressed to have it painted. After several years of calling for the paint job, it was finally done and the bridge looked great. We should have known better. The freshly painted structure was demolished the following year!
Having read this I thought it was extremely informative.
I appreciate you spending some time and effort to put this informative
article together. I once again find myself personally spending way too much time both reading and commenting.
But so what, it was still worthwhile!
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I went to St Marys School around the corner in the 1950s
And remember the bridge as well as the LIRR cut very well
There was also a bridge to Brooklyn a few blocks further on
That bridge was replaced with the Pulaski bridge to Green Point around 1954
The original bridge carried trolleys to Vernon Blvd
The terminal was near the police precinct