Kosciuszko Bridge’s new span will debut this week with a light show

The new Kosciuszko Bridge will be officially unveiled on Thursday by Governor Cuomo, alongside a light show that’s part of the governor’s bridge lighting initiative, the Daily News has learned. The event precedes the implosion of the old Kosciuszko Bridge, poised to take place on July 11—go ahead and subscribe to any of the Facebook events for it—and will be synchronized to music airing on some iHeartRadio stations.

The existing span is the first of two that will be built. Governor Cuomo touts the infrastructure project as the first major bridge to be built in the city in 53 years. (Before that, it was the Verrazzano Bridge, which was finished in 1964.)

Construction on the second bridge will begin in July after the demolition of the original bridge. That span is expected to be complete in 2020, and will serve Brooklyn-bound traffic. The first new span will carry traffic both ways until the second bridge is constructed.

The debut of the new bridge will also be the premiere of what’s now being called “The New York Harbor of Lights,” an illuminated LED display that will eventually be the norm on some of the state’s myriad bridges and roadways. According to Governor Cuomo’s office, similar displays will be installed “on all seven MTA-operated bridges and tunnels,” along with the George Washington Bridge, by 2018.

Its appearance on the Kosciuszko is a warm-up, of sorts, and will coordinate with a similar light show on the Empire State Building that night.

• EXCLUSIVE: Kosciuszko Bridge to make flashy Thursday debut featuring Cuomo, light show [NYDN]
• Kosciuszko Bridge rebuild gets a boost from…dynamite? [Curbed]
• Cuomo unveils major overhaul of NYC bridges and tunnels [Curbed]