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The first span on the new Kosciuszko Bridge will be unveiled by Governor Andrew Cuomo on Thursday night, providing six lanes of traffic that will connect Brooklyn and Queens over the Newtown Creek. The new structure replaces the now-defunct 78-year-old bridge of the same name, which will be demolished by way of dynamite this July.
The new bridge is the first to be built in New York City since the debut of the Verrazano Bridge in 1964, and Cuomo will welcome it with a dazzling LED light show. Dubbed "The New York Harbor of Lights," the state is bringing an Empire State Building-esque display of lights to every MTA-operated bridge and tunnel (plus the George Washington Bridge) by May of 2018. Kosciuszko will be the first to receive the luminous treatment, which is set to make NYC's beautiful set of bridges even more incredible.
The new span will include three lanes of traffic in each direction. When the final iteration of the bridge is completed in early 2020, there will be five lanes for Queens-bound traffic, four lanes for those heading into Brooklyn and a 20-foot-wide bike path and walkway.
Thursday's light show will be synced up to tunes playing on select iHeartRadio stations, and will be coordinated with another display on the Empire State Building. There is no word yet as to which songs will be included, but DJs would be remiss if they omitted the Red Hot Chili Peppers's "Under the Bridge" and Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" from their playlists.