Everything about The Verrazano-narrows Bridge totally explained
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, while crossing
The Narrows. 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 eighth longest center span in the world, and 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 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 must be built to accommodate the clearance under the bridge.
Among local residents, it's often referred to as simply "The Verrazano Bridge" or "Verrazano-Narrows".
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 the last project 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. The plans to build the bridge caused considerable controversy in the neighborhood of
Bay Ridge, because many families had settled in homes in the area where the bridge now stands and were forced to relocate.
Construction on the bridge began
August 13,
1959, and the upper deck was opened on
November 21,
1964 at a cost of $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 inches. 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 ft) and their distance apart (4260 ft), the curvature of the earth's surface had to be taken into account when designing the bridge -- the towers are inches farther apart at their tops than at their bases.
- Due to thermal expansion/contraction of steel, the bridge roadway is 12 feet lower in summer than its winter elevation.
The bridge is more vulnerable to the elements than any other bridge in the city, because of its size and isolated location close to the open ocean. It is occasionally closed (either partially or entirely) 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 3 m (9.75 ft) of clearance.
September 11, 2001
On the morning of
September 11, 2001,
United Airlines Flight 175 was hijacked and flown directly over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge en route to the
World Trade Center. Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials had earlier expressed concern about the plane's proximity to the bridge and later closed the bridge's upper deck after the plane struck the
South Tower. When details of the attack on
The Pentagon emerged, the MTA shut down the Verrazano-Narrows bridge, along with most other traffic throughout the city. After the collapse of the North Tower, the MTA opened both an eastbound and westbound lane of the bridge to allow traffic to flow briefly before closing it again at 1:00 p.m. that day. It remained closed until the following morning at 9:00 a.m.
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 New York Governor
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'd 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'd make sure the bridge wouldn't be named for his brother. (What had been known as
Idlewild Airport, New York's major international airport, was named for him instead.)
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 $10 per car or $4.50 per motorcycle.
E-ZPass users get a discount of $1.70 per car.
As of March 2007, there's a reduced toll of $4.80 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 Brooklyn and Staten Island 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.
Recently, residents living on both ends of the bridge have lobbied for pedestrian access. In October 2003, Mayor
Michael Bloomberg promised to look into establishing the long-awaited pedestrian and bicycle access, but so far nothing has happened since.
Primary individuals involved
Further Information
Get more info on 'Verrazano-narrows Bridge'.
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