[70][77] A cantilever design by Charles Macdonald and the Delaware Bridge Company was selected in early 1877,[78][79] but no action had been taken by 1878, a year after the plans were approved.

[109][110] Although Rainey himself eventually consented to the city's takeover of his franchise,[111] mayor Robert Anderson Van Wyck wanted to build a new bridge in a slightly different location.

[89] By late 1898, Queens residents were threatening to not vote for the Democratic Party (of which Van Wyck was part) if the construction of the bridge did not begin shortly.

[138] Lindenthal submitted the modified plans to the Municipal Art Society for approval but withdrew them that July,[145] and he also allowed Ryan & Parker to continue constructing the piers.

[150][viii] In October, a special committee recommended that Lindenthal's plans be rejected, saying that it would cost the city more if construction were halted and that two other East River bridges were also about 120 feet wide.

[32] The grand opening included a fireworks display, a parade lasting several hours,[235] a "Queen of the Queensboro Bridge" beauty pageant in a local newspaper,[73] and a week of carnivals.

[236] During late 1909, the Williams Engineering and Contracting Company sued the city for damages relating to the unbuilt elevators on Blackwell's Island,[237] and there was another lawsuit over its safety.

[250] Simultaneously, the city's Public Service Commission had approved the construction of connections between the bridge's upper-level tracks and the elevated lines at either end.

[279][xxi] The project was delayed due to difficulties in acquiring property,[280] and the city controller's office contemplated abandoning plans for the new approaches.

[285] Goldman publicized his plans for the southern upper roadway in April 1929,[286] and the T. H. Reynolds Company had been hired to move the elevated tracks by the next month.

[318]By 1942, the city government was planning to shutter and dismantle the Second Avenue Elevated tracks across the Queensboro Bridge;[319] the line closed in June 1942,[320] and it was demolished by the end of the year.

[322] The City Planning Commission proposed rebuilding the Manhattan end of the bridge in late 1946[323] and adding an eight-story parking garage above the approach viaduct.

[334] Zurmuhlen requested $8.2 million from the city in 1953 for the construction of the roadway;[xxiv] in exchange, he dropped plans for a bus terminal at the Manhattan end of the bridge.

[347] In 1958, Consolidated Edison proposed converting the lower-level trolley tracks into vehicular lanes in exchange for permission to install power cables under the bridge.

[348] Consolidated Edison spent $4 million in 1960[xxvi] to install power cables, convert the trolley tracks, and construct slip roads between the lower-level roadways.

[355][356] That same year, mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. approved the demolition of several buildings for a proposed underpass connecting the bridge's westbound lanes with Second Avenue in Manhattan.

[372] New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) engineering director George Zaimes described the bridge's frame as being rusty, with some holes that were as large as a person's head.

[35] The NYSDOT announced that July that the southern upper roadway, which carried eastbound traffic, would be closed for repairs, which were expected to take 18 months.

[392] In February 1987, the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) announced that parts of the northern upper roadway would be closed for two years.

[399] The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) proposed a rail link to LaGuardia and JFK airports in 1990;[400] the line, which would have used the Queensboro Bridge, was canceled in 1995.

[17] The lower deck's partial closure caused severe congestion in Queens, since part of the nearby Long Island Expressway was also closed for renovation.

[415][416] Some pedestrians and bikers opposed the conversion of the southern lower roadway, as they would have to wait for a van to take them across the bridge during weekday afternoons,[417] but the new traffic pattern was implemented anyway.

[436] Mayor Bill de Blasio announced plans in April 2016 to allocate $244 million for repairs to the Queensboro Bridge's upper deck.

[24] A connection from the Interborough Rapid Transit Company's Second Avenue Elevated to the bridge was first proposed in 1910;[444] early plans called for a line extending to Malba.

[493] As part of a plan by mayor John Lindsay and the federal Environmental Protection Agency,[494] the city government considered implementing tolls on the four East River bridges, including the Queensboro, in the early 1970s.

[494] A plan for congestion pricing in New York City was approved in mid-2023,[504] allowing the MTA to toll drivers who use the Queensboro Bridge and then travel south of 60th Street.

[513] Even before the bridge was completed, real-estate values in Queens had been increasing several times over,[164][514] and its construction also spurred the sale of property along 59th Street in Manhattan.

[517] A New York Times article from 1923 wrote that the bridge's opening "marked the first step in eliminating the East River as a barrier to the spread of population eastward".

[521] The Queensboro Chamber of Commerce's spokesperson said in 1924 that real estate values in Queens had tripled within 15 years of the bridge's opening, while the population grew from 284,000 to 736,000.

[522] Because of its design and location, the Queensboro Bridge has appeared in numerous media works, including films and TV shows, set in New York City.