This episode is from the WNYC archives. It may contain language which is no longer politically or socially appropriate.

Re-unveiling of Brooklyn Bridge ceremony. Harold H. Kelley gives the invocation. He says, "Bond between boroughs...may it symbolize for greater New York that bridge of unity and cooperation. May friendship and brotherly love bridge all the cleavages of race, religion and ancestry and make us a municipal family..." Chairman of ceremony, Percival R. Moses says, "We are celebrating also the vista into the future." He talks about plans for changes to New York City and the demolition of the Old Post Office, the Tweed Court House, and elevated structures which veiled the bridge. The demolition was not to precede satisfactory replacements the City Hall Park Association has set as its primary objective -- a well-thought-out and unified plan. There will be suitable shelters for passengers waiting for buses to be built immediately.

Manhattan Borough President Edgar J. Nathan talks about post-war plans and says the first significant improvement to the city was Brooklyn Bridge built in 1883. The Manhattan approach to the bridge hadn't contributed to its beauty, but advances have been made recently to improve its appearance. Similar improvements will be made to the Brooklyn side. He says it will be one of the most desirable districts in the city for office space.

U.S. Army Band performs. There is a reading by Shakespearean actor Arnold Moss from Walt Whitman's "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry."

Mayor La Guardia addresses the gathering. " I decided to come here today 62 years ago last April, I was five months old....[my] father played in one of the bands...I wasn't called upon to speak but mother told me I wasn't quiet even then....Brooklyn Bridge is typically New York. It is one of the best-known bridges in the whole world." He talks of the beauty of the bridge and calls it an engineering feat. He says Brooklyn has more than three million people and is now the largest city in the country. La Guardia says it would cost $65 million to build it today, not including the approaches. He doesn't want to take down the Tweed Court House so that it remains, he says, a reminder of the kind of government we don't want.

The Mayor says New York will never be finished, and every Mayor should pledge to this city to turn this city over to his successor better than we received it. "I'm going to sell the bridge; others have tried but got into trouble." He auctions a model of the Brooklyn Bridge. "American Woolen Co. offers 5 million. 17.5 million is bid by United Merchants and Manufacturers. Sold!"

Audio courtesy of the NYC Municipal Archives WNYC Collection

WNYC archives id: 5801
Municipal archives id: LT2599