I♥NY

STAPLE STREET, Tribeca 

http://forgotten-ny.com/2013/07/staple-street-tribeca/

...and now for the element that has attracted me to Staple Street like a yellow jacket to a picnic for two decades — its bridge. It’s made of cast iron and has picture windows along the sides, and connects the third floors of the House of Relief with the laundry/stables. The Landmarks Designation Report states merely that it is a “later addition, designer undetermined” but it can be no older than 1907. I suppose I’m fascinated with it because while there are many older or more recent pedestrian footbridges connecting buildings around town, they’re usually high above the street, and this one spans one of NYC’s more obscure alleys. It’s Staple Street’s trademark — its hidden nature has saved it.

While both NYH buildings were converted to residential as early as the 1980s, the accessibility of the bridge is a mystery to me. Perhaps some residents have the key to the inevitably locked doors that go to the walkway — if you’re a resident or caretaker who has the key and can let me on, there’s a lunch in it for you.

STAPLE ST, Kat Gillies, Stylist Assistant for Downtownfrombehind.