Edward Abraham Byrne

Edward Byrne began his civil engineering career in 1886 with the New York City Aqueduct Commission on the construction of the Croton Water Supply System.

At the close of World War I, the Department of Plant and Structures began a period of intense activity, which was cut short only by the Great Depression of 1930.

He increased the capacity of the Manhattan and Queensboro Bridges over the East River by the construction of additional vehicular roadways on their upper decks.

There is no doubt that Byrne looked upon the construction of the Triborough Bridge as the culmination of his career, but he was forced to relinquish his post in February 1934, only several months after he had entered it with such high anticipation.

Primarily, Byrne was an engineer and executive, and because of his character, integrity, and devotion, held his position, independent of politics, throughout successive administrations.

The administration headed by Fiorello H. La Guardia assumed the Mayor's office on January 1, 1934, with a mandate for a "clean sweep", and the complete reorganization of the Triborough Bridge Authority was among the changes which followed.

Another instance of Byrne's active concern with traffic facilities is his advocacy of a vehicular tunnel from the Battery to Hamilton Avenue, in Brooklyn, N. Y., by way of Governors Island.

In 1929, also, he prepared preliminary plans and estimates for a vehicular tunnel under the East River from Manhattan Island at Thirty-eight Street to the Borough of Queens.

Beneath an exterior which years of command and responsibility had rendered somewhat stern, he fostered a kindly, generous, and charitable disposition – always ready with help and sympathy for fellow humans in distress.