While they all made the journey, the very first "adventurer" to cross the entire span wasn't a person at all. It was a plucky stray cat from Brooklyn. Yes, really.
Let's set the scene. It’s the spring of 1883. After 16 long, dramatic years of construction, the Brooklyn Bridge—then called the East River Bridge—was the talk of the world. The grand opening on May 24th was planned with incredible fanfare. But a month before the official ceremony, a strange request was made.
C.W. McAuliffe, a Manhattan saloon keeper, declared he wanted the honor of owning the first cat to cross the new bridge. Why? Who knows! But in a city full of colorful characters, it was a request that Alderman James J. Mooney decided to fulfill.
Mooney headed to Brooklyn and began scouting for the perfect feline candidate. He soon found a gray stray that seemed, as one report delightfully noted, "inclined to see the world." This was our guy.
The chosen cat was gently placed in a basket and brought to Charles Cyril Martin, the bridge's chief engineer. Martin, likely amused, handed the precious cargo to a worker with a simple task: take this cat to the center of the bridge and let him go.
Out on the breathtaking, unfinished span, high above the East River, the worker released the cat. Instead of panicking, the curious feline simply turned and followed his human companion the rest of the way toward Manhattan. He strolled across the wooden planks as if he owned the place, completing the first-ever Brooklyn-to-Manhattan crossing by a non-worker.
Once safely on the Manhattan side, the trailblazing cat was popped back in his basket and delivered to his new owner, C.W. McAuliffe, at his saloon, Harmony Hall, a political hangout at 17 Centre Street.
There, surrounded by merry politicians, the cat was officially christened "Ned of the Bridge." He was even presented with a brand-new collar bearing his name, which McAuliffe must have optimistically pre-made, hoping for a male cat. The celebration was on, and Ned was the toast of the town.
When the bridge officially opened a month later, Emily Warren Roebling famously crossed in a carriage with a rooster in her lap—a symbol of victory. President Arthur and other dignitaries followed. It's safe to say none of them had a clue that a small gray cat had already beaten them to it.
So what became of Ned’s new home? Harmony Hall was a classic Manhattan watering hole at the corner of Centre and Chambers Streets, a stone's throw from what is now City Hall Park. For years, it was a hub for political wheeling and dealing. But the city was changing, and by the early 1900s, the old saloon was torn down.
If you visit that corner today, you won’t find Harmony Hall. Instead, you'll be standing in front of the magnificent, Beaux-Arts masterpiece known as the Surrogate's Courthouse. It’s one of the most beautiful buildings in the city—a grand upgrade for Ned’s old corner.
While history doesn't record what happened to Ned of the Bridge, we like to think he lived out his days as the beloved, well-fed mascot of Harmony Hall, regaling the patrons with tales of his high-wire adventure.
So next time you take that amazing walk from Brooklyn to Manhattan, remember the small pioneer who did it first. You're following in the paw-steps of Ned, the first and bravest cat to ever cross the Brooklyn Bridge.
