The Manhattan Bridge Arch was designed by the noted architectural firm of Carrere & Hastings in the classical Beaux-Arts style of the early 20th century. The design successfully adapted features inspired by the 17th-century Porte St. Denis in Paris and Bernini’s colonnade at St. Peter’s Square in Rome with concepts of urban planning advocated by the City Beautiful movement. It was the third bridge to cross the East River, and it aroused controversy. After the triumph of Roebling’s Brooklyn Bridge (1867-83), the Williamsburg Bridge (1896-1903) the Manhattan Bridge was considered quite ugly.