Photo credit: BWAF Archive
Photos left to right: Engineer Courtney Clark; rehabilitation on the ramp; Engineer Lauren Balinski conducts a bridge inspection (Photo Credit: Weidlinger Associates).
BWAF’s 90-minute walking tour of the Brooklyn Bridge was an inaugural event highlighting the many ways women have had, and continue to have, a hand in shaping the bridge and the boroughs it connects, bringing a new perspective to a well-known icon. The walk took place on September 17 at 10:30am with an eager group of 30 joining BWAF in exploring the bridge and the stories of it’s neighborhood. Topics of the walk included hidden histories such as Emily Roebling’s role in building the bridge and historical women reporters of the bridge area, as well as modern stories of maintenance, use, and the bridge in the context of NYC’s urban fabric. See more photos of the walk on BWAF’s Facebook page. The walk was a part of the Institute for Urban Design’s Urban Design Week.
Photos left to right: Brendan Crain (Institute for Urban Design); The Brooklyn Bridge; Speakers Balinski, Clark, Architect Barbie, Angela Dallara, Wanda Bubriski, and Laurie Kerr.
Tour Itinerary and Guides
Download the PDF tour itinerary here.
Welcome and Introductions
Wanda Bubriski is the founding Executive Director of the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation. Trained as an art and architectural historian, she has extensive background in urban history, preservation, and community activism, and has organized tours by foot, bike, and canoe for Sierra Club and the D.C. Preservation League that focused on Washington DC’s built and natural environments.
Women’s History in the Bridge’s Neighborhood
Angela Dallara is the Women’s History Associate at Women’s eNews. “Opening the Way” is a 21-stop walking tour of downtown NYC that honors pioneer women writers, agitators, suffragists, and abolitionists.
For more information, visit http://www.womensenews.org/openingtheway
Emily Roebling & Getting the Bridge Built
Kristian Roebling is a filmmaker, musician, and founder of Brigade Records. He is also a direct descendant of the Roebling family who built the Bridge, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Roebling Museum located in Roebling, NJ. http://www.roeblingmuseum.org
Engineering & Maintaining NYC’s Bridges
Courtney Clark is a project engineer at Weidlinger Associates. Courtney has worked on the rehabilitation of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and is currently working on the design of the Nanhe River Bridge in Xinjin, China, a unique pedestrian bridge in the form of a double helix.
Lauren Balinski is a structural engineeer at Weidlinger Associates. Her project experience includes the inspection of the Manhattan Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge, and various arterial bridges throughout Brooklyn and Staten Island. She is currently involved in the ongoing Brooklyn Bridge rehabilitation project.
Crossing the Bridge to Safety: 9/11/2001
Morgan Gebhardt is VP for Channel Relations at IPsoft, a Managed Services Provider delivering IT outsourcing solutions to clients worldwide. Formerly a resident of lower Manhattan, he now lives with his family in Brooklyn.
Sustainability and City-Wide Planning
Laurie Kerr is Senior Policy Advisor at NYC Mayor’s Office, responsible for the development of the City’s green building and energy efficiency policies. She has been instrumental in the creation of PlaNYC, New York’s influential plan for sustainable growth through 2030, including the NYC greenhouse gas reduction plan, the comprehensive policies for energy efficiency in existing buildings, the greening of the City’s codes and regulations, and energy-aligned lease language. She is the 2011 recipient of the AIANY Public Architect Award.
Photos left to right: Kristian Roebling; a plaque dedicated to the male Roeblings; Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton Corner, a part of women's history.
