Fri. Dec. 4 - Sun. Dec. 6 ALTERNATE SIDE PARKING RULES ARE IN EFFECT FRIDAY AND SATURDAY

The Rockefeller Christmas Tree was lit on Wednesday and that is the beginning of added pedestrian and vehicular traffic in Midtown. We were out there yesterday checking on conditions and here’s what we saw and what you can expect until the end of the year:

• 49th and 50th Streets between Fifth and Sixth Aves. are closed to vehicular traffic for the rest of the year. 47th and 48th Sts. picked up much of the diverted traffic.

• 52nd and 53rd, so far, are better bets for east-west travel.

• The M-50 buses have been rerouted westbound to 47th St. and eastbound to 52nd St. between Fifth and Seventh Aves. Fifth was heavier than we’ve seen in a while but nothing like the gridlock we usually see this time of year.

• East Burnside Ave. between the Grand Concourse and Anthony Ave. will be closed Fridays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. throughout December for concrete work.

• For the next three Saturdays, the Grand St. Bridge over Newtown Creek will be fully shut to vehicles, bikes, and pedestrians between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m.

• *On Saturday, 6:45 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday, 8:45 a.m. to 10 p.m., Jamaica Center-bound J trains and Middle Village-bound M trains skip Hewes St., Lorimer St. and Flushing Ave. ● Starting at 5 a.m. on Saturday, the 181st St. No. 1 station will be closed through December 2021.

MAILBAG Dear readers,

Many of you have seen the videos circulating of the Verrazzano Bridge swaying in the high winds (up to 60 mph) we experienced on Monday; thanks for tagging me in your posts. While the images of the longest span in North America shifting back and forth (and the sound of all that steel moving) certainly seem scary, a bit of flexibility is what you want to see.

Long span bridges are engineered to bend with the wind to avoid cracking the steel and roadway. It’s not just the wind, either; they move with heavy loads too.

The Manhattan Bridge deck rises and drops by as much as 8 feet as subways go across. Someday, stand in the middle of the bridge’s walkway and look out at the horizon and you will notice it as a train passes. It’s when long-span bridges don’t move that you should worry. Gale-force winds don’t make for good driving on bridges, however, which is why part or all of the Verrazzano was shut for much of the day Monday.