The 'Verrazano-Narrows Bridge' is a double-decked
suspension bridge that connects the
boroughs of
Staten Island and
Brooklyn in
New York City at
the Narrows, the reach connecting the relatively protected
upper bay with the larger
lower bay. The bridge is named for
Italian explorer
Giovanni da Verrazzano, the first known
European navigator to enter
New York Harbor and the
Hudson River. It has a center span of and was the
largest suspension bridge in the world from the time of its completion in 1964 until 1981. It now has the seventh longest center span in the world but still is the largest suspension
bridge in the United States. Its massive towers can be seen throughout a good part of the
New York metropolitan area, including from spots in all five boroughs of
New York City. The bridge furnishes a critical link in the local and regional highway system. It is widely known today as the starting point of the
New York City Marathon. The bridge marks the gateway to
New York Harbor; all cruise ships and most container ships arriving at the Port of New York and New Jersey must pass underneath the bridge. Most ships, when built, must be built to accommodate the clearance under the bridge. Among local residents it is often referred to as simply "the Verrazano".
History
The bridge is owned by
New York City and operated by the
Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, an affiliate agency of the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Interstate 278 passes over the Bridge connecting the
Staten Island Expressway with the
Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and the
Belt Parkway. The Verrazano, along with the other three major Staten Island bridges, created a new way for commuters and travelers to reach Brooklyn, Long Island, and Manhattan by car from
New Jersey.
The bridge was the last great
public works project in New York City overseen by
Robert Moses, the
New York State Parks Commissioner and head of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, who had long desired the bridge as means of completing the expressway system which was itself largely the result of his efforts. The bridge was designed by Chief Engineer
Othmar Ammann, who had also designed most of the other major crossings of
New York City, including the
George Washington Bridge, the
Bayonne Bridge, the
Bronx Whitestone Bridge, the
Triborough Bridge and the
Throgs Neck Bridge. It was his last project. The plans to build the bridge caused considerable controversy in the neighborhood of
Bay Ridge, since many families had settled in homes in the area where the bridge now stands and were forced to relocate.
Construction on the bridge started on
August 13,
1959 and the upper deck was opened on
November 21,
1964 at a cost of over $320 million. New York City Mayor
Robert F. Wagner cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony, which was attended by over 5,000 people. The lower deck opened on
June 28,
1969. The bridge took over the title of the longest suspension bridge in the world, previously held by the
Golden Gate Bridge, from 1964 until 1981, when it was eclipsed by the
Humber Bridge in
England.
Fort Lafayette was an
island coastal
fortification in New York Harbor, built next to
Fort Hamilton at the southern tip of what is now Bay Ridge. It was destroyed as part of the bridge's construction in 1960; the Brooklyn-side bridge
pillars now occupy the fort's former foundation site.
According to the
United States Department of Transportation:
★ Each of the two towers contains 1,000,000 bolts and 3,000,000 rivets.
★ The diameter of each of the four suspension cables is 36". Each cable is composed of 26,108 wires amounting to a total of 143,000 miles in length
★ Due to the height of the towers (690') and their distance apart (4260'), the curvature of the earth's surface had to be taken into account when designing the bridge -- the towers are 1⅝ inches farther apart at their tops than at their bases.
[Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, accessed March 6, 2007]
★ Due to thermal expansion/contraction of steel, the bridge roadway is 12' lower in summer than its winter elevation.
The bridge, because of its size and isolated location, close to the open ocean, is more vulnerable to the elements than any other bridge in the city. It has been closed, either partially or entirely, occasionally during strong wind and snow storms.
The
Queen Mary 2 had to revise its smokestack height in order for it to pass under the bridge, and still has barely 3m (9.75ft) of clearance.
[3]
On 9/11
On 9/11, the Verrazano Narrows Bridge was shut down shortly after Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. 175 flew right over the bridge. MTA offcials were worried the plane was going to crash into the bridge due to the way it was flying and how low it was flying. At 9:05 A.M the Verrazano Bridge Upper Level was shut down leaving the Lower Level open, banning trucks from entering or leaving Staten Island. After the message of the Pentagon Attack, the MTA shut down the bridge and other MTA bridges. After the collape of the North Tower, officials opened one lane inbound and one lane outbound on the Verrazano Narrows Bridge only. The Verrazano Narrows Bridge had two scares on 9/11; when Flight 175 flew into the South Tower and when reports that an unknown flight was heading to the
George Washington Bridge. At 1 P.M the bridge closed again. On 9/12/01 at 9 A.M the bridge reopened.
Naming controversy
The naming of the bridge for Verrazzano was highly controversial at the time. It was first proposed in 1951 by the
Italian Historical Society of America, when the bridge was in the planning stage. After the initial proposal was turned down by Moses, the Society undertook a public relations campaign to both re-establish the reputation of the largely-forgotten Verrazano and to promote the idea of naming the bridge for him. The promotional campaign was largely the effort of Society director
John N. LaCorte, who in 1954 successfully lobbied
Governor of New York W. Averell Harriman to proclaim
April 17 (the anniversary of Verrazano's arrival in the harbor) as "Verrazano Day". Subsequent efforts by LaCorte resulted in similar proclamations by governors of states along the
East Coast. After these successes, LaCorte approached the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority again, but was turned down a second time. The manager of the authority, backed by Moses, stated that the name was too long and that he had never heard of Verrazano.
The Society later succeeded in lobbying to get a bill introduced in the
New York State Assembly that would name the bridge for the explorer. After the introduction of the bill, the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce joined the Society in promoting the name. The bill was signed into law in 1960 by Governor
Nelson Rockefeller. Although the controversy seemed settled, the naming issue rose again in the last year of construction after the assassination of
John F. Kennedy. A petition to name the bridge for Kennedy received thousands of signatures and threatened the naming for the explorer. In response, LaCorte contacted
United States Attorney General Robert Kennedy, the president's brother, who told LaCorte that he would make sure the bridge would not be named for his brother. (What had been known as
Idlewild Airport, New York's major international airport, was named for him instead). Coincidentally, the bridge opened just one day before the first anniversary of John Kennedy's death.
Despite the success of LaCorte, the official name was widely ignored by local news outlets at the time of the dedication. Some radio announcers and newspapers omitted any reference to Verrazano, referring to the bridge as the "Narrows Bridge", or the "Brooklyn-Staten Island Bridge". The Society continued its lobbying efforts to promote the name in the following years until the name became firmly established.
Bridge usage
The one-way toll (paid westbound into Staten Island only) in cash is $9 per car or $4 per motorcycle E-ZPass users get a discount of $1.00 per car.
There is a reduced toll of $4.60 (as of
March 19,
2007) for Staten Island residents; there is also a significant carpool discount. From 1964 to 1986, the toll was collected in both directions, until Staten Island residents concerned about pollution from idling vehicles called for one way tolls. However, as of 2007, the eastbound toll booths are still in place, requiring drivers to slow down. While the high cost of the toll between Staten Island and Brooklyn has always been an issue for residents, some favor the toll because they see it as a way to curb population growth on Staten Island.
Sign on the bridge indicating the border between boroughs.
The original plans of the bridge included a pedestrian and bicycle walkway. However, those plans were never realized. Recently, there has been demand by residents living on both ends of the bridge to allow pedestrian access. In October of 2003, Mayor
Michael Bloomberg promised to see what he could do to realize the long-awaited pedestrian and bicycle access.
The Verrazano in popular culture
★ On ''
The Cosby Show'', Cliff sees his daughter Sondra's shabby apartment and says, "Where is the beautiful view of the Verrazano Bridge?" Son-in-law Elvin says, "Over there, look." To which Cliff replies, "All I can see are the 10 toll booths."
★ The bridge is featured prominently at the opening of the
New York City Marathon every November, which begins in
Staten Island near the approach to the bridge. Television coverage of the race often features dramatic aerial views of the huge crowd of runners crossing the upper deck of the bridge.
★ The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge makes three appearances in : It is the landmark by which
Snake is supposed to be off the
tanker, it is seen at the beginning of part two where
Raiden infiltrates the
Big Shell off-shore cleanup facility, and it features near the end of the game, when
Arsenal Gear passes under it.
★ The bridge also was featured in the
1977 movie ''
Saturday Night Fever'', in which Tony Manero, played by
John Travolta, climbs along the bridge's parapets in front of his friends from
Brooklyn. He also discusses statistics of the bridge to Stephanie Mangano while sitting down nearby. The bridge is featured again at the end of the film, when Tony is trying to talk Bobby C. off the bridge.
★ In the
2000 film ''
Requiem for a Dream'', one of the bridge's distinctive towers is seen as Harry (
Jared Leto) and Tyrone (
Marlon Wayans) drive under it en route from Brooklyn to
Florida.
★ The span is seen in the opening credits of the television series ''
Becker''.
★ In the
2004 motion picture ''
Meet the Fockers'', The Byrnes's
recreational vehicle is shown passing through the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge en route to Florida.
★ In the
2005 film ''
Cinderella Man'', the
closing credits state that
James J. Braddock helped to construct the bridge.
Primary Individuals Involved
Trivia
★ At night, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge can be seen lit up from
Washington Rock State Park, which is about 30 miles away atop the first
Watchung Mountain in
Green Brook Township,
New Jersey.
★ During daytime and night time, the support towers can be seen from about 29 miles (46.7 km) at a certain spot at ''Thompson Park'' in
Monroe Township,
New Jersey.
★ Because of the length of the center span, the two towers of the bridge are actually separated by an
arcsecond and can be seen if one looks perpendicularly at the bridge. A similar situation occurs on the 17-mile long
Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel in
Virginia Beach, Virginia.
★ Due to the Italian origins of the Bridge's name combined with the
White Flight phenomena of the 1970s of many of
Brooklyn, NY Italian-American residents moving to
Staten Island the Bridge is sometimes refered to locally as
Guinea Gangplank.
[4]
References
1. Verrazano-Narrows Bridge (I-278)
2. 2005 NYSDOT Traffic Data Report: AADT Values for Select Toll Facilities
3. Cruise Ship Profile, accessed July 13, 2006
4. The Ethnic Enigma: The Salience of Ethnicity for European-origin Groups, , Peter, Kivisto, Balch Institute Press, 1989,
External links
★
New York City MTA official site
★
nycroads.com
★
Transportation Alternative's Verrazano Bridge Profile
★
★
The Naming of the Verrazano
★
WNYC: Verrazano Bridge turns 40
★
★
Patrick S. O'Donnell's Verrazano Narrows Bridge photos on bridgemeister.com
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