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Verrazano Bridge

An engineering marvel, the 4,260 ft. span linking Brooklyn to Staten Island took 5 Yrs to build and required the labor of more than 12,00 workers.

About 30 civilian TBTA workers comprise the maintenance crews, Electricians, Plumbers, Painters and those who plow the snow, fill the potholes & change the 700 light bulbs on the span. Ever since construction began in 1959, the Verrazano has been a neighborhood source of curiosity & wonder.

Fast Facts

The Verrazano was designed by Othmar Ammann, who had previously designed the Triboro , Whitestone, Throgs Neck, George Washington & Bayonne Bridges.	The road deck in the center of the bridge rises & falls 12 feet between winter & Summer
At 4,620 Ft. between towers, the Verrazano was the longest suspension bridge in the world when it opened in the 1964. It held that distinction for 17 Yrs. It is still the longest in the U.S. but there R now bridges with longer main spans in Japan, Turkey, Denmark & Britain.	In 1964, the toll for cars was .50 in each direction. Now the $8.oo toll is collected only from the westbound vehicles ($7.oo for E-Z Pass & $4.oo for Staten Island residents with E-Z Pass).
Each tower weighs 27,ooo tons & is held together with 3 million rivets & 1 million bolts. Together, they contain as much steel as the Empire State Building.	Each of the 4 Cables, which measure 7,205 Ft. long & 36 inches in diameter, was made from 143,ooo miles of pencil - thin wire - more than 1/2 the distance to the moon if laid end to end.
It's the Starting point each year for the New York City Marathon.	A total of 17.6 million vehicles crossed the bridge in its 1st full Yr. of operation. More than 71 Million vehicles crossed the bridge in 03

The bridge was named after Giovanni da Verrazano who in 1524 was sent out by the French to sail up the east coast of North America from Florida to Cape Cod. He desired to see what the area must look like so he explored the mouth of the New York Harbor. It was after him that the bridge was named. He was the first European Navigator to enter the New York Bay.