My Story
A weekend boat trip up the mighty Hudson River was the initial inspiration for this project. Our boat passed beneath many large bridges, man-made marvels that citizens of modern times take for granted. The Bear Mountain Bridge was one such marvel and was the spark that ignited my desire to learn more about how it came to be to serve the beautiful Lower Hudson Valley.
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My background in commercial building construction and management drove my initial interest in the structural design and construction process of the bridge itself. As I dug into the research I discovered so many fascinating pieces of regional history that interconnected the conception and building of the bridge with the men and women that played key roles in the burgeoning development and preservation of the lower Hudson Valley as we know it today. These were stories of people, places and circumstances that needed to be shared and preserved.
Barbara Hansen Cali is a retired management executive with more than thirty years in the commercial real-estate and construction industry, serving at various times as estimator, project manager, property manager, and director.
While vice president of property management for a tristate REIT, she sat on the board of BOMA-NJ (Building Owners and Managers Association) and mentored junior managers in the good stewardship of building maintenance and quality construction procedures.
She is a member of the Orange County Historical Society and has published several articles in the Journal of the Orange County Historical Society as well as in the Westchester Historian, the journal of the Westchester Historical Society.
Born in Brooklyn, her family relocated to New Jersey where she grew up living in the tri-state metropolitan area a short ride from the Hudson River Valley. A lifelong advocate for children, she sits on the boards of Prevent Child Abuse–New Jersey and Child Wellness Institute (ChildWIN), two organizations dedicated to ensuring that all children enjoy a happy childhood.
