This Bridge Story
The Hojack Swing Bridge is gone. Hundreds of supporters worked to save it, the most interesting feature in the Port of Rochester and the largest movable object in Monroe County, but they ultimately failed.
When the first warning was sounded in 1999, a letter from Allen King Sloan, and a group “Save Our Bridge” or SOB for short, began organizing, holding meetings, forming committees and doing research. There were a lot of successes. We challenged the US Army Corps of Engineers that initially claimed jurisdiction, and responsibility was transferred to the Coast Guard. They sent orders for demolition and we challenged them, over and again and for several years were able to prevent, or at least delay, demolition.
For 7 years we fought a brave battle and found impressive allies including the New York State Office of Historic Preservation that contradicted many of the Coast Guard claims. In 2006 we thought the Coast Guard had backed off on their threat to order the demolition because there was a lull in the battle. For several years between 2006 and 2011 we heard nothing and, looking back, realized that we missed the opportunity to develop alternatives, but we were all busy. They used the time to prepare and we were snookered.
On September 28, 2011 a reporter called and asked for my reaction to the impending demolition. I was stunned! That same day I submitted a Freedom of Information Request to the United States Coast Guard asking for all documents related to the bridge over the past two years (that letter is the first document in the sequence of correspondence).
The first reply was that there were no documents matching my request and I appealed attaching copies of letters and emails I had received. There were more denials and more appeals. Finally in February 2012 I received 11 pages of heavily redacted documents and two pages were duplicates.
They were completely useless and clearly incomplete. Later as a result of a “successful” appeal they sent 4 more pages, heavily redacted and also useless.
I filed more appeals, wrote to elected officials, talked to attorneys and wrote to the Unites States Department of Justice expecting that they would help enforce federal laws. Later I talked to an assistant district attorney in Buffalo who advised that my remedy was in court, but that the DOJ would represent the Coast Guard.
I sent a packet with FOIL requests, redacted documents, appeals and replies to The New York Times. There was no reply. There are glowing descriptions of the FOIL including this from the US Government Office of Management and Budget:
"The effective functioning of our constitutional democracy depends upon the participation in public life of a citizenry that is well informed.”
Visit the Documents to go through the full record of correspondences. The Index has a list of all the documents by date and links to download PDFs of the documents.
About Richard Margolis
I am an architectural photographer and had already spent five years photographing bridges when I heard about the threat of demolition to the Hojack Bridge in 1999. The bridge was always my favorite, in part because it was close to home, amazing to see as it moved, and was one of the last of its type. I was sure we could save it and began to organize meetings that led to a grass roots effort.
My studio is on the top floor of a former shoe factory in the Neighborhood of the Arts. Most of my photographic projects involve historic preservation, some for clients and some, like Rochester Big Trees, are personal. You can see many of my projects at www.RichardMargolis.com.