Oops (Part II)

Two caught climbing the Williamsburg Bridge

Again - good thing I'm retired.

First, for would be copycats - please take note that there is a specific law making this a Class A Misdemeanor punishable by up to a $1000 fine or a year in jail. That's not to say it's what you'll end up getting charged with, but it can be a potentially bigger deal than the simple criminal tresspass or reckless endangerment charge you might get for other benign tresspassing activities. And that's assuming there's not a terror alert on, in which case who knows what'll end up happening to you.

To me, the press response from the NYPD is most noteworthy because, as far as I know, this is the first time the Police Commissioner has described anyone as an "urban explorer." I can't really tell if this is a good thing or a bad thing yet, but it's interesting that the term "urban explorer" has entered the conciousness of mainstream society to this degree.

Anyway, it's not exactly a secret people climb this bridge from time to time. In fact those of us who keep track of these sort of things had noticed the DOT becoming slightly annoyed at this over the last little while. But like most minor illegal activities, the amount of times people have been caught doing this (twice in the last decade that have made the papers, maybe a few more that haven't) is miniscule compared to the amount of times people haven't been caught doing this.

But really there's no reason for all the stress - both on the part of people who want to climb the bridge, and the part of the NYPD and DOT who have to police it. The city should simply open up the top of the Williamsburg Bridge for tours. It's easily the easiest major bridge without an elevator to climb physically in New York City, as you just need to ascend a staircase and then climb a very short ladder to the maintenance room at the top (getting out onto the actual roof is somewhat trickier).

Doing a quick calculation I can tell you that the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb grosses at least 50 million dollars (US) a year.  Maybe a Williamsburg Bridge climb wouldn't be quite as popular (although a Brooklyn Bridge climb certainly would), but a demonstrated demand is certainly there. Forget about being an "urban explorer." As a New York City taxpayer, I have to ask: why the city isn't jumping at the chance to tap this revenue stream?