Art Drop #12: The Pulaski Skyway
Engineering art in the "armpit of America."
Around the time I went to college I learned that most people didn’t think highly of New Jersey – I believe the term “armpit of America” was used. When I tell people I am from New Jersey, or they see our Jersey license plates, there’s definitely some prejudice there, I feel it and yet feel proud to be from here regardless.
For this month’s art drop, we are going straight into that armpit – stay with me – because we are leaving New Jersey soon, and I’m realizing now how emotionally attached I am to this misunderstood and oft-maligned state. So I am taking this opportunity to document and share with you something I think is particularly special here in northern New Jersey.
You need to know about the Pulaski Skyway.
DIAGONAL HIGHWAY
At the same time as the Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Hoover Dam were being constructed, an audacious plan was underway in New Jersey to bring cars and trucks across a swamp and two rivers to link up with the newly-built Holland Tunnel into lower Manhattan. This journey between Newark and Jersey City that would take days with horses and hours in a car would take minutes with a proposed “superhighway,” the first of its kind. That plan went through some ‘only in New Jersey’ twists and turns, but eventually resulted in a 3.5 mile-long elevated highway that rises 135 feet up in the air encompassing not one but two bridges along the way. That plan was known by many names – Diagonal Highway, Meadowlands Viaduct, but eventually came to be known as the Pulaski Skyway.
Because nothing like it had been built before, the only available technology was railroad engineering, and so a black steel truss design was used but adapted for automobiles and trucks – it was a case of “let’s build it and hopefully it will work.” What could go wrong?
Well, a lot actually… I am midway through a riveting book all about it, so in our next newsletter we can get into some of the details, but for today let’s celebrate the enduring beauty of this structure. A caveat – some people think it is ugly. Maybe you are one of those people but hear me out and I hope you will see what I see.
THE BLACK PEARLS OF NORTH JERSEY
When I look at the Pulaski Skyway I am drawn to its undulating, black steel forms that snake along the landscape linking cities, spanning rivers and meadowlands. It curves, it swoops, it looms over a tangle of roadways, railways, river ways, drawbridges, power plants, power lines, a cluster of congestion that would make out-of-state drivers uneasy and sweaty but as North Jersey drivers we accept as a matter of course. When people deride New Jersey as being the “armpit of America” they are likely referring to this area.
Everything is messy below and around and nearby, but the Pulaski Skyway looks neat, tidy, even elegant as it soars into the sky perched on its concrete piers before curving back down to the ground. It’s 92 years old and looks better than any other roadway in the area, rusty in parts, getting repaired in others, but still looking good and carrying automobiles after all these years.
Somewhere I heard the Pulaski Skyway referred to as the “Black Pearls of North Jersey,” like it was a delicate necklace draped across the landscape. Did I make this up? I cannot seem to find a reference for this, and yet it is so apt. I’ve always found the Skyway to be surprisingly airy and light in its design, as if the bare minimum of steel and concrete was used, and not in a flimsy way, but just in a way that utilizes the materials to achieve an openness and gracefulness in its design.
ART DROP #12
The challenges involved in photographing the Pulaski Skyway are access and context. There are not many accessible areas with desirable views of the Skyway, and the industrial sprawl that surrounds it can be cluttered, distracting and downright unsightly. We don’t need to fully embrace the armpit status. For this art drop I chose to simplify the composition and home in on a section of the 3.5-mile-long subject that highlights its structural details. It’s been a difficult subject, but one I have been compelled to tackle anyway. I don’t think I am done with it yet.
I’m curious to hear what you make of it.
Pulaski Skyway
Kearny, NJ, USA
by Diana Pappas
Prints of Pulaski Skyway are only available until May 7, 2024, with no further production of this work for at least a year. To read more about the paper, sizes, and pricing click the button below to visit the art drop page on our website.
Have you heard of the Pulaski Skyway before? Do you agree that it is worthy of notice? Are you interested in learning more? I for one am getting more obsessed with it by the minute. Stay tuned for next week’s newsletter because there is too much to say on the subject. See the footer below for a hint of what’s to come…
Until next week,
Now that you know what you’re looking for, treat yourself to a drive with Tony back in 1999, and look out for the Pulaski Skyway…
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This newsletter is the culmination of (too) many days of work over the last two weeks – a lot of brainstorming, researching, processing, writing and four dedicated visits to the Pulaski Skyway. The compulsion to create and make art is strong.
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Love the imagery!
I'm a transplant since 1995 from the Balto / Washington DC area. I always go to bat for NJ. Love the quaint towns and the diversity of landscapes throughout the state.
Although, I've never traversed the Pulaski Skyway.
Thanks for including the Sopranos video at the end. It was the first thing I thought of and guessed it might have featured the parkway. It is indeed an impressive structure. Growing up on the South Shore across from Montreal, bridges were a lifeline for us. The oldest of three we used regularly was the Victoria Bridge, only 1.9 miles long across the St. Lawrence River, but it was opened in 1859 making it one of the engineering marvels of the world at the time. One only need to look at the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge to get a sense of how important these bridges are. They are certainly worth closer inspection and your pictures do them justice. I particularly like the image directly above the title The Black Pearls of North Jersey, a catchphrase which I love. The image captures the majesty and industrial economic nature of the bridge. People often find fault with industrial heartlands. Yet those who live there know the landscape more intimately and can rightly feel proud of where they come from. My family toiled for generations in the Durham Coalfield of Northern England. A hell on earth if ever there was one, and yet, there is great pride in my family coming from there. Remember New Jersey fondly. For how it nurtured and sustained you.