New Yorkers celebrate Brooklyn Bridge's 120th birthday

NEW YORK -- Gray skies and intermittent drizzle didn't stop New Yorkers from paying respects to the Brooklyn Bridge on its 120th birthday by doing what the stone-and-steel icon was built for: crossing from one side to the other.

New Yorkers with similar feelings turned out to ride, run and walk from lower Manhattan to Brooklyn on Saturday morning, kicking off a day of events commemorating the anniversary of the landmark's opening.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg began the day by crossing the opposite way with Sen. Charles Schumer, Brooklyn Borough president Marty Markowitz and Manhattan Borough president C. Virginia Fields.

The bridge opened on May 24, 1883.

It has since served the city through a century of traffic, from horse-drawn carriages to bicycles and cars.

To cap off the day, organizers planned a concert by the Brooklyn Philharmonic, a giant birthday cake with 120 candles and a laser light show on a six-story screen.