Welcome back to Where & When, where we use our fine detective skills to figure out where and when a given picture was taken, and then we settle into general satisfaction, swapping of tales and quaffing of root beers and cream sodas.
Here is today’s challenge:
This one shouldn’t be too tough. Some may see a similar view on a regular basis. So, tell us the location depicted, including the structure, which should also give you a notion when the picture was taken. Bonus if you can list any other features in the picture (relative to the year).
Send your complete answers to cixposse@gmail.com. I will try to reveal the answer later in the day here and in the most current thread. Stories and descriptions of neighborhoods are especially encouraged, so share away and good luck!
I know what it is. When, I'm not sure sure.
Yeah, same here.
But it shouldn't be too hard to figure out the When...
Just emailed my guess.
Yeah, the When is not too hard either.
Here's something interesting and not too revealing:
If the camera turned around, it would show an area that sort of changed boroughs. Hm, actually, two different areas, and one of them might have been in the process of changing when the picture was taken.
Got it. Trick is to use the main waterway, but not to focus on it.
Trying not to read comments yet. Sending my guess in a bit.
Crap...did 3 minutes of searching and found the exact picture with date right away. Sending my "guess" anyway. Sigh...
Yep, everyone whose sent in an answer has been pretty spot on, so it looks like there'll be a lot of "drinking" tonight. It's not too late for anyone else who wants to get their soda on, so keep sending in the answer and I'll reveal the mystery winner of the root beer at or after three.
Drum roll please... The answer, as everyone and their mother and children knew, was The Henry Hudson Bridge, c. 1936. Most residents and commuters would be familiar with the distinctive under-arch beneath the roadway, but probably more telling is the Spuyten Duyvil railroad bridge behind it. But how many knew that the newer bridge had been planned as far back as 1906, but due to resistance from area residents who were concerned about spoiling the natural woodlands the project was delayed until the Depression Era and WPA projects, literally spearheaded by that force of nature/madness, Robert Moses. New York has lots of interesting back stories, and I hope we can entertain more than a few of them as we go...
So although Fearless Leader hinted that he knew the answer, he abstained from answering for the greater good of all, allowing JDM to close the game and win the root beer. Praise be (too soon?)
Cream Sodas also go to RIYank, rbj and TheGreenMan for also answering correctly. Remember, finding the source is fine as long as you don't click on the credit link in the game.
OK, next time will be a little harder >;)
Yeah, the Spittin' Devil did it for me -- that plus the Hudson itself, which I think is what rbj was hinting at. The bridge itself is not all that distinctive -- maybe it would be if I lived in the Bronx.
That or a commuter from "upstate".
[10] Yeah, any body of water like that near NY has to be the Hudson. Then you just have to search for bridges along the Hudson (none of the ones over the Hudson look like that.)
Very enjoyable.
[9] That bridge was 10ยข to cross when I was a kid in the '60s. Now it's $5! Each way! But less with Easy Pass. And if you don't have Easy Pass, you don't pay a toll taker, they now send you a bill in the mail.
If you want the definitive Robert Moses description and history of his deeds and mis-deeds, pick up The Power Broker by Robert Cato (I paid $1 for a used copy at a garage sale). Moses single-handedly shaped modern NYC. The chapter about the Cross Bronx Expressway is chilling.
[13] I heard a lot about that book, especially from watching "New York: A Documentary Film" by Ric Burns. Part 6 was wholly dedicated to LaGuardia and Moses; I was emotional thinking over how much beauty, history and culture was destroyed in the name of progress, and how what replaced those treasures had only made the quality of life in those areas much worse. The book apparently had a strong and lasting impact on how history views Robert Moses; I don't think I can stand reading it because the amount of dislike I have for him is already at a peak.