Brooklyn Bridge a celebratory banquet at his house on the day of the bridge opening. Further festivity included the performance of a band, gunfire from ships, and a fireworks display. Since the New York and Brooklyn Bridge was the only one across the East River at that time, it was also called East River Bridge. On that first day, a total of 1,800 vehicles and 150,300 people crossed what was then the only land passage between Manhattan and Brooklyn. Emily Warren Roebling was the first to cross the bridge. The bridge's main span over the East River is 1,595 feet 6 inches
Brooklyn Bridge Park the Brooklyn Waterfront Local Development Corporation (LDC) in 1998 to complete a year-long planning and visioning process for Brooklyn Bridge Park. With $1 million in funding secured by New York State Senator Martin Connor and Assemblywoman Joan Millman, the LDC began an intense public outreach process—these efforts culminated in the Brooklyn Bridge Park Illustrative Master Plan, published in September 2000. On May 2, 2002 Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor George Pataki signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in which New York State and the City of New York agreed to create, develop, and operate Brooklyn Bridge Park on 85 acres