ON THIS DAY IN 1909, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “At five o’clock tomorrow afternoon, the first ticket will be sold on the new Manhattan Bridge, and continuously thereafter the structure, which has been built at a cost of $13,000,000, outside of land for approaches, will be turning a revenue into the city treasury. Public vehicular traffic will be admitted to the roadway after the formal opening, which starts at 2 o’clock. Automobiles and wagons will pay the regular 10-cent and 5-cent tolls that are collected on the other East River bridges. It is anticipated that there will be keen competition for the privilege of purchasing the first ticket, and arrangements are being made with the police department for regulation of crowds. The toll boxes at which tickets will be sold and collected were set up at either end of the roadway today, following their delivery yesterday…
