According to the Department of Transportation, the Manhattan Bridge will open it?s archway to the public for the first time in 17 years starting in 2009.

The gate that has separated the DUMBO community into two parts will be removed.

The archway was being used to store steel to repair bridges. With another location for those materials, the DOT has turned its eye to restoration favoring new lighting and benches for the area.

The archway opening will be a pleasing sight for many Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass residents.

?This view is something many New Yorkers have never seen for generations,? says DUMBO local Nancy Webster. ? I think even people who walk across it every day don't even know that what a hidden jewel we have under the Manhattan Bridge.?