Brooklyn Bridge Secret: Wine Cellars in Brooklyn Bridge
When John Roebling designed Brooklyn Bridge, he had a creative solution to two problems. First, how the city would pay for the $15 million bridge. Second, how to avoid disrupting two successful liquor businesses located on the land he needed to build the new bridge. To solve these dilemmas, he included two wine cellars and other vaults in the caverns below the bridge and rented them to vendors.
The vaults held alcoholic drinks starting in 1876, before the 1883 bridge opened. They were dark, cool, and consistently a cool temperature. Rent would not cover all the construction costs, as there were not many vaults available. Yearly rent varied, some paid $500, others $5,000 each year, but it certainly helped offset the expense. Today the vaults are storage units, but some lucky few get permission to tour this hidden history.
