What to Know
- The city DOT will begin posting signs on the Brooklyn Bridge warning lovers not to clip love locks onto cables at the bridge.
- It comes after a wire on the bridge snapped and forced authorities to shut down to lanes on the span to make repairs.
- The city has snipped more than 34,000 locks off the bridge since it began keeping count in 2013.
New York City has a message to couples hoping to leave a permanent mark of their love on the city: padlocks are not welcome on the Brooklyn Bridge.
The New York Post reported on Friday that the city Transportation Department will be posting signs warning lovers that clip love locks onto cables at the span could face a $100 fine.
The move comes about a month after a wire weighed down by locks snapped and forced authorities to shut down two lanes on the bridge while repairs were made.
"(Each lock) costs the city real money in terms of sending our personnel out there to remove them," DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg told the Post. "It’s a lot of extra work."
The city also issued similar warnings to lovers in 2014.
The Post reports that more than 34,000 love locks have been cut off the span since the DOT began keeping count in 2013. The agency said it costs the city more than $100,000 to remove all the locks.
The padlock ritual originated in Italy many years ago and was first spotted on the Brooklyn Bridge around 2010. Since then, couples have made it a point to clip their inscribed padlocks onto the span.
