The Tappan Zee Bridge links three turning points in Deborah Feldman’s journey: her drive to a poetry class, a serious car crash just beyond the bridge, and a later move with her son, Yitzy. Its importance lies less in any description of the structure than in its recurring place on the road between Airmont and Westchester County, where a route associated with new possibilities becomes tied to trauma and then to departure.

Setting and Route

On the first Monday in June, Feldman drives over the Tappan Zee Bridge toward Westchester County to attend a poetry class. She has ordered The Norton Anthology of Poetry from the local library, dropped Yitzy at day care, and is making the trip as part of her emerging life as a student. The Hudson River lies below the bridge; the crossing is a concrete part of her journey into a setting beyond the Hasidic life she is beginning to leave behind.

The Crash Beyond the Bridge

Later, after an event, Feldman drives back toward Airmont. As she comes off the Tappan Zee Bridge and veers onto the New York State Thruway, her car spins out of control, strikes a barrier, and flips over. The crash happens just beyond the bridge, not on it. She believes she is about to die and interprets the moment as punishment for standing on the cusp of freedom. She survives, but the crossing becomes inseparable from the shock of the accident.

Return and Narrative Significance

A few days later, as Feldman drives a rented Kia with Yitzy and her belongings packed inside, traffic stalls on the Tappan Zee Bridge. Gripping the steering wheel, she relives the crash’s sounds and sensations. The same route that had carried her toward a poetry class now brings the accident back into the present, while also forming part of her physical departure from her marriage. Across these journeys, the bridge marks a threshold: movement toward education and independence, a sudden confrontation with danger, and the difficult passage into a life with fewer possessions and fewer ties.