9. It Used to be a Toll Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is maintained and operated by the New York Department of Transportation (DOT) which runs 793 bridges and tunnels throughout New York, including the Manhattan, Williamsburg, and Queensboro Bridges, for which there are no tolls. Bridges run by other agencies, like the Throgs Neck and Whitestone which are run by the y MTA Bridges and Tunnels, do have tolls. There was a time however when it did cost one to ten cents to cross the Brooklyn Bridge.
If you wanted to cross the bridge on foot, you had to pony up one cent. It cost five cents to cross on horseback and ten cents to cross with a horse and wagon. If you were transporting cattle it would cost five cents per cow and two cents per sheep. Pedestrian tolls went away in 1891 and all other tolls were rescinded by 1911. With the passage of the congestion pricing plan in early 2019, drivers crossing the Brooklyn Bridge will be subject to the new fees (over $10), unless they head directly onto the FDR Drive north until 60th Street.