Gimbels Skybridge

I have admired and walked under this structure for years.  So I photographed it the other day, and then just now tried to find out what it is.  I put this photo into a Google Image Search and it told me it is the Gimbels Sky Bridge.  In 1910, Gimbel’s department store set up a location in Herald Square near their main competitor, Macy’s. Other departments stores followed suit, and a shopping district was born. To distinguish themselves from the other department stores, Gimbel’s was known for various marketing ploys like the “bargain basement.” If that wasn’t enough to attract attention, they also created a skybridge in 1925 which connected the department store to the newly-acquired annex next door. Architects Richmond H. Shreve and William F. Lamb, who later helped design the Empire State Building, designed the copper, three-story-tall structure to connect offices in the building to the main store. With this marvelous feat of engineering, employees no longer had to deal with crossing the congested street below.

 The first image was taken when I was walking from Penn Station over to Herald Square to take the subway up town to the photo exhibit.  This second image is looking from the other side back toward Penn Station.  This structure is so unique and so beautiful, it is amazing it took me so long to actually  find out what it was.