1,138,792,957 visitors served.
1,138,792,957 visitors served. |
|
 Dictionary/ thesaurus |  Medical dictionary |  Legal dictionary |  Financial dictionary |  Acronyms |  Idioms |  Encyclopedia |  Wikipedia encyclopedia | ? |
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge |
Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Acronyms, Encyclopedia | 0.09 sec. |
Verrazano Bridge redirects here; for the bridge to Assateague Island, see Verrazano Bridge (Maryland).
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 4,260 feet (1298 m) 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 its name has been abbreviated and it is often referred to as simply the "Verz-Naro". Among residents across the New York City region, the bridge is generally referred to as just one of its two-word name: The "Verrazano" or the "Narrows". The "Verrazano" is generally more popular. HistoryThe 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:
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.[4] September 11, 2001On the morning of September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, 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 close 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 through 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 PM that day. It remained close until the following morning at 9 AM.Naming controversyThe 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 usageThe 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 $4.80 (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. Primary Individuals Involved
References1. ^ Verrazano-Narrows Bridge (I-278). Retrieved on 2007-05-28. 2. ^ [https://www.nysdot.gov/portal/page/portal/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-respository/appendixctdr.pdf 2005 NYSDOT Traffic Data Report: AADT Values for Select Toll Facilities]. Retrieved on 2007-05-05. 3. ^ Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, accessed March 6, 2007 4. ^ Cruise Ship Profile, accessed July 13, 2006 External links
Auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System 35.62 mi[1] (0 km) 1961 US 1/9 in Linden, NJ I-95/NJTP in Elizabeth, NJ NY 440 in Staten Island I-478 in Brooklyn, NY I-495 in Queens, NY I-87 in Bronx, NY ..... Click the link for more information. The Narrows is the tidal strait separating the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City. It connects the upper and lower sections of New York Bay and forms the principal channel by which the Hudson River empties into the Atlantic Ocean. ..... Click the link for more information. City of New York New York City at sunset Flag Seal Nickname: The Big Apple, Gotham, The City that Never Sleeps Location in the state of New York Coordinates: ..... Click the link for more information. Staten Island (IPA: ˌstæt.ənˈaɪlənd) is a borough of New York City. Situated on an eponymous island, Staten Island is the most geographically separate and least populated of the five boroughs. ..... Click the link for more information. Brooklyn (named after the Dutch town Breukelen) is one of the five boroughs of New York City. An independent city until its consolidation into New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with nearly 2.5 million residents. ..... Click the link for more information.
A suspension bridge ..... Click the link for more information. Annual average daily traffic, abbrevated AADT, is a term used primarily in transportation planning and transportation engineering. It is the total volume of vehicle traffic in both directions of a highway or road for a year divided by 365 days. ..... Click the link for more information. November 21 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining. Events..... Click the link for more information. 19th century - 20th century - 21st century 1930s 1940s 1950s - 1960s - 1970s 1980s 1990s 1961 1962 1963 - 1964 - 1965 1966 1967
..... Click the link for more information. June 28 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining. In common years it is always in ISO week 26. ..... Click the link for more information. 19th century - 20th century - 21st century 1930s 1940s 1950s - 1960s - 1970s 1980s 1990s 1966 1967 1968 - 1969 - 1970 1971 1972
..... Click the link for more information. E-ZPass is the electronic toll collection system used on most toll bridges and toll roads in the northeastern United States from Virginia to Maine, and recently extended into Illinois. ..... Click the link for more information. Assateague Island is an undeveloped barrier island, comprising the southern portion of Maryland's Atlantic Coast and part of Virginia's Eastern Shore. It is known for the its herds of Chincoteague Ponies and the Assateague Lighthouse. ..... Click the link for more information. Verrazano Bridge in Maryland is a bridge on Maryland Route 611 over Sinepuxent Bay that connects Assateague Island to the mainland. Like the larger and more famous Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, it is named after Giovanni da Verrazzano. ..... Click the link for more information.
A suspension bridge ..... Click the link for more information. Staten Island (IPA: ˌstæt.ənˈaɪlənd) is a borough of New York City. Situated on an eponymous island, Staten Island is the most geographically separate and least populated of the five boroughs. ..... Click the link for more information. Brooklyn (named after the Dutch town Breukelen) is one of the five boroughs of New York City. An independent city until its consolidation into New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with nearly 2.5 million residents. ..... Click the link for more information. City of New York New York City at sunset Flag Seal Nickname: The Big Apple, Gotham, The City that Never Sleeps Location in the state of New York Coordinates: ..... Click the link for more information. The Narrows is the tidal strait separating the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City. It connects the upper and lower sections of New York Bay and forms the principal channel by which the Hudson River empties into the Atlantic Ocean. ..... Click the link for more information. Upper New York Bay, sometimes called Upper New York Harbor or the Upper Bay, is the northern area of New York Harbor inside The Narrows. It is enclosed by Manhattan, Long Island, mainland New Jersey and Staten Island. ..... Click the link for more information. Lower New York Bay is the section of New York Bay outside of The Narrows that flows directly into the Atlantic Ocean via Hudson Canyon, an underwater channel that flows southeast from Lower New York Bay for hundreds of miles into the Atlantic Ocean. ..... Click the link for more information. Anthem Il Canto degli Italiani (also known as Fratelli d'Italia) ..... Click the link for more information. Giovanni da Verrazzano [1] (c. 1485 – c. 1528) was an Italian explorer of North America, in the service of the French crown. He is renowned as the first European to explore the Atlantic coast of North America between South Carolina and Newfoundland in 1524, ..... Click the link for more information. Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. Physically and geologically, Europe is the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, west of Asia. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea, ..... Click the link for more information. New York Harbor, a geographic term, refers collectively to the rivers, bays, and tidal estuaries near the mouth of the Hudson River in the vicinity of New York City. This is sometimes construed in the sense "the Ports of New York and New Jersey". ..... Click the link for more information. Hudson River (Muh-he-kun-ne-tuk or Muhheakantuck) Looking upriver from the Bear Mountain Bridge Country | USA States | ..... Click the link for more information. list of suspension bridges ranks the world's suspension bridges by the length of main span (distance between the suspension towers).</onlyinclude> The length of main span is the most common method of comparing the sizes of suspension bridges. ..... Click the link for more information. Bridges in the United States is a link page for any notable bridge in the United States of America. See: List of bridges Alabama
..... Click the link for more information. New York – Northern New Jersey – Long Island Common name: New York Metropolitan Area Largest city Other cities New York - Newark - Jersey City - Yonkers - Paterson ..... Click the link for more information. City of New York New York City at sunset Flag Seal Nickname: The Big Apple, Gotham, The City that Never Sleeps Location in the state of New York Coordinates: ..... Click the link for more information. This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia® - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the Wikipedia® encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
? Mentioned in | ? References in periodicals archive | |
|---|---|---|
The tour series, Staten Island: Beyond the Boat and the Bridge, is designed to attract those who know little about the island beyond the Staten Island Ferry and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. The bridge with the longest span in the United States is the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York, NY, with a main span of 4,260 feet (1,298 meters. The agency runs seven bridges and two tunnels in the city, including the Triborough and Verrazano-Narrows bridges, that generate about $850 million a year from 1 million daily users. |
 |
| Free Tools: |
For surfers:
Browser extension |
Word of the Day |
Help
For webmasters: Free content | Linking | Lookup box | Double-click lookup | Partner with us |
|
|---|
Disclaimer |
Privacy policy |
Feedback | Copyright © 2008 Farlex, Inc.)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
Printer friendly
Cite / link
Email
Feedback
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge