Dueling bridges

Brooklyn Bridge with Manhattan Bridge in the background

Both bridges in all their splendor

The Manhattan Bridge looming large

On Sunday, I had dinner with a former student from my years teaching English in Japan. She arrived in the States in late April and is living in Manhattan for a year while she studies at a language school downtown.
On the way to meet her, I took advantage of the beautiful weather to walk to the southernmost part of Manhattan, the oldest part of the city.
I hadn't been down there in a few years.
I had forgotten how gracefully and elegantly the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge compete for the viewer's attention.
I was happy to see the rivalry going strong.
The Brooklyn Bridge is the people's bridge, the sightseer's bridge, the choice of cyclists and pedestrians year round.
The Manhattan Bridge is the forgotten stepchild, the thinker's bridge, the purposeful walker's bridge, the bridge famed more for the views it offers of its iconic neighbor.
And in the dead of winter when chill winds roil the East River, it's the lonely bridge you walk across if you want to feel you're the last person in creation.