When navigating your way through the hectic New York streets you might limit your vision to only what’s in front of you, and for good reason. Crazy cabbies and daring cyclists weave in and out of every possible inch, without a moment’s notice. But if you take a moment to look up, you might just notice a unique remnant of city building from an earlier era: skybridges. Skybridges are examples of the city’s push to tempt the creative boundaries of architecture. These nifty throughways can reside just a few short stories above the street, while others daringly traverse the city skyline.

The King’s Dream of New York was a fictional illustration created in 1908, and depicted a New York City filled with overpasses and bridges connecting adjacent buildings. The King’s View was illustrated as a fictional piece of art, but in many ways foresaw a multi-modal New York accesible via air, railway and sea. Skybridges were the first manifestation of this idea and inspired architects to think above street level.

1. Staple Street Skybridge

The Staple Street skybridge was designed in 1907 by Robertson & Potter in order to help the New York City Hospital House of Relief. The House of Relief expanded its facilities across the street and in doing so, sparked the idea of an elevated thruway connecting the two buildings. Today a well known fashion designer, Zoran Ladicorbic, owns it. Ladicorbic uses this skyrbidge to connect his apartment to his fashion studio. The unique apartment has been on and off the market in the past couple years, listed at $50 million.

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