Urban Exploration Atop NYC’s Queensboro Bridge [Photos]

Atop the Queensboro Bridge. Photo by @hakimms

Bridges have always been popular amongst New York City’s urban explorers, but the recent frequency of expeditions is noteworthy, and has even caught the eye of Police Commissioner Bill Bratton. Urban exploration has became a rite of passage of sorts for certain New York teenagers and Instagram has given them an outlet for creative expression, along with the fame associated with such public declarations. The arrest of @Demidism for his photo atop the construction of 432 Park, seems to have only encouraged more to emerge.

While some explorers continue to leave email contact information in their Instagram profiles, others are far more careful, routing their postings through different IP addresses, like a young explorer we spoke to. These urban explorers are young, tech savvy and media aware–a new evolution of urban explorers.

Photo by @hakimms

@hakimms, who shared with us his series of photos atop Hell Gate Bridge also recently made the climb up the Queensboro Bridge (ahem, the Edward I. Koch Bridge). The photos, posted a day to Instagram the day before @icarus_nyc, who has also been in the news for his explorations up the Queensboro Bridge. Is @hakimms the “accomplice” to @icarus_nyc mentioned mentioned in the Animal NY article? Either way, @hakimms had some appreciation for his own personal safety, telling us that he only had a few photographs “due to the wind.”

Here are the photos of the Queensboro Bridge from @icarus_nyc:

Next, see photos from an urban exploration atop Hell Gate Bridge.