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Delayed destruction: Officials postpone Sept. 24 demolition of old Kosciuszko Bridge

Delayed destruction: Officials postpone Sept. 24 demolition of old Kosciuszko Bridge
By Lauren Gill

There’s life in the old span yet.

Plans to blast away the remaining chunks of the former Kosciuszko Bridge on Sunday are postponed, according to police.

Officials were going to blow up the old span’s approaches in Greenpoint and Queens on Sept. 24, but the detonation was cancelled, according to Officer David Molina of the 94th Precinct, which covers Greenpoint.

Molina didn’t know why the date — which was originally set for the summer — was pushed back again. And a state Department of Transportation spokesman refused to say why officials can’t commit to a day and time to destroy the rest of the 78-year-old Brooklyn–Queens crossing, the center of which was lowered and shipped away on barges in July.

What remains of the beleaguered bridge will go out with a series of small, surgical explosions when the big day finally arrives.

Meanwhile, the first of two new like-named replacement spans has been up and running since April, and construction on the second, which is expected to finish in 2020, will start once the original crossing is reduced to rubble.

Reach reporter Lauren Gill at lgill@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260–2511.