Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge

Early plans Liberty Bridge

View of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge from Upper New York Bay, with Coney Island in the distance

A bridge across the Narrows had been proposed as early as 1926 or 1927, when structural engineer David B. Steinman brought up the possibility of such a crossing.[1]: 135 [2] At the time, Staten Island was isolated from the rest of New York City, and its only direct connection to the city's other four boroughs was by the Staten Island Ferry to South Ferry in Manhattan, or by ferries to 39th and 69th Streets in Brooklyn.[3] In 1928, the chambers of commerce in Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, and Staten Island announced that the Interboro Bridge Company had proposed the future construction of the "Liberty Bridge" to the United States Department of War. The bridge's towers would be 800 feet (240 m) high and it would cost $60 million in 1928 dollars.[1]: 136 [4] In November 1929, engineers released plans for the 4,500-foot (1,400 m) Liberty Bridge spanning the Narrows,[5] with 800-foot-tall towers.[6] It was hoped that the new construction would spur development on Staten Island, along with the Outerbridge Crossing and the Bayonne Bridge, which were under construction at the time.[7]

The Liberty Bridge would carry vehicles from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, to an as-yet-undetermined location on Staten Island.[7] On the Brooklyn side, the city planned to connect the Liberty Bridge to a "Crosstown Highway", spanning Brooklyn and Queens and connecting to the proposed Triborough Bridge in northwestern Queens. The city also envisioned a possible connection to the preexisting Manhattan Bridge, connecting Downtown Brooklyn to Lower Manhattan.[8] However, a vote on the planned Liberty Bridge was never taken, as it was blocked by then-Congressman Fiorello H. La Guardia, who believed that a public necessity should not be provided by private interests.[1]: 136

1920s tunnel plan

A prior attempt to link Brooklyn and Staten Island, using the Staten Island Tunnel, had commenced in 1923 but was canceled two years later.[1]: 135 [9][10] That tunnel would have extended New York City Subway service from Brooklyn to Staten Island.[11] This proposal was also revived with the announcement of the Liberty Bridge.[7][12] One of the alternative proposals had the subway tunnel going from St. George, Staten Island, to Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, before continuing to Governors Island and then Lower Manhattan.[12] Simultaneously, engineers proposed a set of vehicular tunnels from Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island, to 97th Street, Brooklyn.[13] The tubes were being planned in conjunction with the Triborough Tunnel (the modern-day Queens Midtown Tunnel), which would connect Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens.[14] The city appropriated $5 million for the tunnels in July 1929,[15] and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad also pledged funding for the vehicular tunnels.[16] Planning for the vehicular tubes started that month.[14]

The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce simultaneously considered all three projects—the bridge, the vehicular tunnels, and the subway tunnel. Community groups on both sides of the Narrows disagreed on which projects should be built first, if at all.[12] Residents of Bay Ridge opposed any plans involving a bridge because its construction would almost definitely require the demolition of part of the neighborhood.[17] Boring work for the vehicular tunnels started in November 1930. The 11,000-foot (3,400 m) twin tunnels, projected to be completed by 1937, were to connect Hylan Boulevard on Staten Island with 86th Street in Brooklyn once they were completed.[18] In January 1932, construction of these tunnels was put on hold indefinitely due to a lack of money.[19] The construction work did not go beyond an examination of shoreline on the Brooklyn side.[20]

Cancellation of bridge

In February 1933, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill authorizing the construction of a suspension bridge across the Narrows.[21] With this approval, the Interboro Bridge Company hoped to start constructing the bridge by the end of the year, thereby creating jobs for 80,000 workers.[22] Structural engineer Othmar H. Ammann, who was building the Triborough Bridge, Midtown Tunnel, and Golden Gate Bridge at the time, showed interest in designing the proposed Narrows bridge, which would be the world's longest bridge if it were built.[23] The city approved the construction of a rapid transit tunnel under the Narrows in December 1933. This tunnel was approved in conjunction with the proposed Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel connecting Red Hook with Lower Manhattan.[24]

In April 1934, the War Department announced its opposition to the Narrows Bridge's construction. The War Department's opposition to the bridge plan was based on the fact that a bridge could create a blockage during wartime, a rationale it gave for opposing a Brooklyn–Battery Bridge connecting Red Hook, Brooklyn, with Lower Manhattan.[25] The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey did not have a public position regarding the Narrows Bridge plan, other than a request that it be allowed to operate the future bridge.[26] Following the War Department's announcement that they would oppose the Narrows bridge, private interests began studying the feasibility of a tunnel under the Narrows.[20]

1930s tunnel plan

View of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge from the Staten Island entrance plaza

In 1936, the plan for a Narrows crossing was brought up again when now-New York City mayor La Guardia gained authorization to petition the U.S. Congress for a bridge across the Narrows.[27] Under the new plan, the proposed bridge would charge tolls for motorists, and its $50 million cost would be paid off using federal bonds.[28] La Guardia preferred a tunnel instead, and so the next year he requested the New York City Tunnel Authority to review the feasibility of such a crossing.[29] The New York City Planning Commission was amenable to constructing either a bridge or a tunnel across the Narrows, and in 1939, put forth a plan to expand New York City's highway system.[30][25] In March of the same year, as a bill for the Battery Bridge was being passed, Staten Island state legislators added a last-minute amendment to the bill, providing for a Narrows bridge.[31] The Narrows crossing was not included in the final version of the Planning Commission's plan, which was approved in 1941.[32]

In 1943, the New York City Board of Estimate allocated $50,000 toward a feasibility study of the tunnel.[33] By this time, Bay Ridge residents now opposed the tunnel plan as well, because they feared that the tunnel's construction would lower the quality of life in that neighborhood.[34] After the war ended in 1945, the Planning Commission estimated that construction of the Narrows Tunnel would cost $73.5 million. However, by then, La Guardia had turned against the tunnel, saying that "it is not my time" to construct the tunnel.[35]

1940s and 1950s bridge plan Initial proposal

Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge seen from Brooklyn at sunset in December 2012

The cancellation of plans for the Narrows tunnel brought a resurgence of proposals for a bridge across the Narrows. In September 1947, Robert Moses, the chairman of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA), announced that the city was going to ask the War Department for permission to build a bridge across the Narrows.[36] Moses had previously created a feasibility study for a Narrows tunnel, finding that it would be much cheaper to build a bridge.[1]: 137 Moses and mayor William O'Dwyer both supported the Narrows Bridge plan, which was still being referred to as "Liberty Bridge".[37] The city submitted its request to the War Department in July 1948,[38] and a commission composed of three United States Armed Forces branches was convened to solicit the public's opinions on the proposed span.[39]

U.S. Representative Donald Lawrence O'Toole, whose constituency included Bay Ridge, opposed the proposal for the bridge because he believed it would damage the character of Bay Ridge, and because the bridge might block the Narrows in case of a war.[40][41] He cited a poll showing that for every Bay Ridge resident who supported the bridge's construction, 33 more were opposed.[42] The U.S. military approved the bridge proposal in May 1949, over the vociferous opposition of Bay Ridge residents, on the condition that construction start within five years.[43][42] By that time, plans for the 6,540-foot (1,990 m) span had been finalized, and the project only needed $78 million in financing in order to proceed. This financing was not set to be awarded until 1950, when the Battery Tunnel was completed. Preliminary plans showed the bridge as being 237 ft (72 m) above the mean high water level, enough for the 215-foot (66 m) RMS Queen Mary to pass under it.[1]: 137 [44]

Moses and acting Port Authority Chairman Bayard F. Pope were agreeable to letting either of their respective agencies construct and operate the proposed Narrows Bridge, as long as that agency could do so efficiently. In 1954, the two agencies started conducting a joint study on the logistics of building and constructing the bridge. Because of restrictions by the TBTA's bondholders, construction could not begin until at least 1957.[45] Frederick H. Zurmuhlen, the Commissioner of Public Works, estimated that the Narrows Bridge would cost $200 million total.[46] He encouraged the TBTA to start construction on the bridge as soon as possible in order to reduce congestion on East River crossings to the north.[47] Staten Islanders viewed the project cautiously, since the Narrows Bridge would provide a connection to the rest of the city, but could also cause traffic congestion through the borough.[48] Moses had only a positive view of the bridge's proposed effects on Staten Islanders, saying that it was vital for the borough's future.[49]

In May 1954, the Army's permit for starting construction on the Narrows Bridge lapsed.[50] The Army granted a two-year extension for the start of construction.[51] In a measure passed in March 1955, the city gained control over the approval process for several tasks related to the Narrows bridge's construction, including land acquisition.[52] A little more than a month later, New York governor W. Averell Harriman signed a $600 million spending bill authorizing the construction of the Narrows Bridge; the construction of the Throgs Neck Bridge between Queens and the Bronx; and the addition of a second level to the George Washington Bridge between Manhattan and New Jersey.[53] Later that year, it was announced that the Narrows Bridge would be part of an expansion to the Interstate Highway System.[54] Although a study on the viability of adding transit service to the Narrows Bridge was commissioned in early 1956,[55] Moses rejected the idea of adding subway tracks onto the new bridge, saying that it would be too costly.[56] In April of that year, New Jersey governor Robert B. Meyner signed a bill that allowed the Port Authority to build the Narrows Bridge and lease it to the TBTA, who would operate the bridge.[57] The TBTA would buy the bridge from the Port Authority in 1967 as part of the agreement.[58]

Finalization of plans

A container ship heading toward the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge seen from Sandy Hook, New Jersey

On the Brooklyn side, the Narrows Bridge was originally supposed to connect to the Circumferential (Belt) Parkway, but in early 1957, Harriman vetoed a bill that stipulated that the main approach connect to the Belt Parkway.[59] By May 1957, an updated location for the Brooklyn anchorage had been agreed on. The anchorage was now to be located at Fort Lafayette, an island coastal fortification built next to Fort Hamilton at the southern tip of Bay Ridge.[60] Moses also proposed expanding Brooklyn's Gowanus Expressway and extending it to the Narrows Bridge by way of Seventh Avenue, which would require cutting through the middle of Bay Ridge. This proposal drew opposition from the community, who wanted the approach to follow the Belt Parkway along the Brooklyn shore.[61] These opponents said that the Seventh Avenue alignment would displace over 1,500 families.[62] In February 1958, the New York State Legislature approved a bill to change the Brooklyn approaches back to Belt Parkway, which was almost identical to the bill Harriman had vetoed.[63] However, the city approved the Seventh Avenue bridge approach in August 1958.[64] The next month, mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. said that the city was committed to building a bridge across the Narrows, but was not committed to the construction of the Seventh Avenue approach. In response, Moses wrote to Wagner that any continuing delays would cause the bridge to be canceled. The bridge's cost had now risen to $320 million.[65]

After holding a hearing for concerned Bay Ridge residents, the Board of Estimate affirmed the Narrows Bridge plan in October 1958,[62] without any objections.[66]: 752 At the same time, it rejected plans for a tunnel under the Narrows, as well as a bridge or tunnel from Brooklyn directly to Jersey City, New Jersey.[62] The Board was set to vote on the Seventh Avenue approach in mid-December, but the federal government stated that it would only agree to the bridge's construction if the Seventh Avenue approach had 12 lanes, with six on each level.[67] The federal government was already paying for two highway improvements on both sides of the proposed bridge: the Clove Lakes Expressway (Staten Island Expressway) on Staten Island, and the Gowanus Expressway in Brooklyn.[1]: 137 [62] On December 31 of that year, the Board of Estimate voted to approve plans for the Seventh Avenue approach, having delayed that vote several times.[68]

The approval of the Seventh Avenue approach angered Bay Ridge residents since the construction of the approach would displace 7,500 people.[69] Opposition in Staten Island was far smaller. More than twice as many people were being displaced there, but Staten Island stood to benefit from a better connection to the rest of the city. Thus, the bridge's announcement was welcomed and it sparked a rise in real-estate prices on the island.[70]: 18–20 As the controversy progressed, Steinman brought up a competing proposal to build a bridge between Brooklyn and New Jersey directly.[1]: 138 [71] Nelson Rockefeller, the Republican candidate for governor of New York, initially supported Steinman's proposal to build a bridge to New Jersey, but Moses later persuaded Rockefeller to endorse the bridge to Staten Island.[1]: 138

The State Legislature drafted a bill in an effort to change the Brooklyn approach's location to Belt Parkway.[72] However, now-governor Rockefeller vetoed the Belt Parkway bill,[73] and in March 1959, the Board of Estimate officially condemned land along Seventh Avenue to make way for the Gowanus Expressway extension to the Narrows Bridge.[74] The only tasks remaining before the start of construction were to finalize the design of the Narrows Bridge, and to speed up the construction schedule to meet a 1964 deadline.[75] In April 1959, the bridge was officially renamed after the Italian navigator Giovanni da Verrazzano.[76] This sparked a controversy because the proposed bridge's name only had one "z" while the explorer's name had two "z"s.[77]

Construction Preparation

The bridge's tower and cables during its construction in 1960

Surveying work for the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge began in January 1959.[70]: 29 The official construction on the bridge began on August 14, 1959, with a groundbreaking ceremony on the Staten Island anchorage. Those in attendance included New Jersey governor Meyner, New York City mayor Wagner, and TBTA chairman Moses. Although Rockefeller had been invited to the event, neither he nor Assembly speaker Joseph F. Carlino showed up.[58][70]: 30 In December 1959, the TBTA was put in charge of funding and building the bridge.[78] To raise money for construction, Rockefeller signed a bill that would remove the 4% ceiling on the interest rates for the securities that the TBTA was selling to pay for the bridge. This ceiling would be lifted until June 1965. In essence, this meant that the TBTA could sell securities at much higher interest rates to raise the $320 million that was needed.[79]

Othmar Ammann was named as the senior partner for the project.[58] Other notable figures involved chief engineer Milton Brumer;[80][81] project engineers Herb Rothman and Frank L. Stahl;[82] design engineer Leopold Just;[83] Safety Engineer Alonzo Dickinson,[84] and engineer of construction John West Kinney.[82] Meanwhile, John "Hard Nose" Murphy supervised the span's and cables' construction.[70]: 52 [85]

Before starting actual work on the bridge, the TBTA destroyed the structures at the future locations of the anchorages.[58] The agency acquired 36 acres (15 ha) of the 138 acres (56 ha) within Fort Hamilton, in return for paying for a $12 million renovation of the Army installation and giving up 10.8 acres (4.4 ha) of land in Dyker Beach Park.[86] A 1,000-ton World War I monument on the Brooklyn side, within the path of the future Seventh Avenue approach, was placed atop rolling logs and shifted 370 ft (110 m).[87] The right-of-way for the Seventh Avenue approach was also being cleared, and despite initial opposition to the clearing work, all of the residents within the approach's path eventually acquiesced to moving elsewhere.[70]: 24 To prevent contractors from delaying work on the expressways on either side of the bridge, Moses warned them of steep fines if the expressways were not completed by the time the bridge was finished.[88]

Progress

Construction of the suspension towers with the ocean liner RMS Queen Mary transiting The Narrows in background in 1962

An anchorage was built on each side of the Narrows, with each anchorage measuring 229 ft (70 m) long by 129 ft (39 m) wide, and containing a combined 780,000 short tons (700,000 long tons) of steel and concrete. Each anchorage contained sixty-six large holes for the cables.[1]: 147 [70]: 54 [89] The bases of each anchorage are built on glacial sands, reaching 52 feet (16 m) below ground level on the Brooklyn side, and 76 feet (23 m) below ground level on the Staten Island side.[1]: 147 Foundation work for the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge was well underway by 1960, as visitors were able to see the anchorages.[90] A concrete workers' strike in mid-1961 threatened the timely completion of the Staten Island anchorage, which had only been partially filled with concrete.[91] This strike lasted several months and affected many projects under the city.[92]

As construction on the anchorages proceeded, two watertight caissons were sunk into the channel close to either shoreline, so that the bridge's suspension towers could be built atop each caisson. The bases of each caisson consisted of sixty-six circular openings each 17 feet (5.2 m) in diameter, arranged in a six-by-eleven grid. Shafts of reinforced concrete would be built along the inner rim of each opening, and once each section of shaft reached 40 feet (12 m) above water level, cranes with clamshell buckets would dig the sand and mud inside each shaft before sinking the shafts deeper into the water.[1]: 144 The Staten Island side's caisson was sunk 105 ft (32 m) into the water, and necessitated the dredging of 81,000 cubic yards (62,000 m3) of sand and assorted muck.[70]: 54 [1]: 144 This caisson required 47,000 cu yd (36,000 m3) of concrete, and in March 1961, it became the first of the two caissons to be sunk.[89] The Brooklyn side's caisson required even more work, since it was 170 ft (52 m) deep, displaced 145,000 cu yd (111,000 m3) of muck, and used 83,000 cu yd (63,000 m3) of concrete.[70]: 54 [89][1]: 144 Once the caissons were sunk completely, the shafts inside each caisson were filled with water, and the bases of the caissons were covered by a sheet of reinforced concrete.[1]: 146 The process of constructing the anchorages and caissons took just over two years, and it was complete by the end of 1961.[70]: 54

Two separate companies later constructed the modules that would make up the 693 ft-tall (211 m) suspension towers. The Staten Island tower was built by Bethlehem Steel, and the Brooklyn tower was built by the Harris Structural Company.[70]: 55 The first piece of the towers, a 300-foot piece of the tower on the Staten Island side, was lifted into place in October 1961,[93] and this tower was topped out by September 1962.[94] The Brooklyn tower started construction in April 1962.[95] When the towers were fully erected, workers began the process of spinning the bridge's cables. The American Bridge Company was selected to construct the cables and deck.[70]: 53 The cable-spinning process began in March 1963, and took six months, since 142,520 mi (229,360 km) of bridge cables had to be strung 104,432 times around the bridge.[96][97] The main cables were hung on both sides of the span, and then suspender cables were hung from the bridge's main cables.[70]: 58 The main cables were fully spun by August.[98]

In late 1963, builders started receiving the rectangular pieces that would make up the roadway deck. The components for the sixty 40-ton slabs were first created in an assembly line in Jersey City.[99] Then, these components were combined in a Bayonne steelworks 5 mi (8 km) from the bridge site, and after the pieces of each slab were assembled, they were floated to the Narrows via barge.[100] Each piece measured 28 ft (8.5 m) high by approximately 115 ft (35 m) wide and long. These pieces of the deck were then hung from the suspender cables.[70]: 94–95 The first piece of the deck was lifted onto the bridge in October 1963.[101] By early 1964, the span was nearly finished, and all that remained was to secure the various parts of the bridge.[70]: 133 By this point, plans for new development on Staten Island were well underway,[102] and tourists had come to observe the construction of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.[103] The bridge had been scheduled to open in 1965, but as a result of the faster-than-anticipated rate of progress, the TBTA decided to open the bridge in November 1964.[104] In preparation for the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge's opening, the TBTA fully repainted the structure.[105] The construction process of the bridge had employed an average of 1,200 workers a day for five years, excluding those who had worked on the approaches; around 10,000 individuals had worked on the bridge throughout that five-year period.[66]: 736

Three men died during the construction of the bridge.[70]: 91 The first fatality was 58-year-old Paul Bassett, who fell off the deck and struck a tower in August 1962.[106] Irving Rubin, also 58 years old, died in July 1963, when he fell off of the bridge approach.[107][70]: 91 The third worker who died was 19-year-old Gerard McKee, who fell into the water in October 1963, after slipping off the catwalk.[70]: 91 [108][109] After McKee's death, workers participated in a five-day strike in December 1963. The strike resulted in temporary safety nets being installed underneath the deck.[70]: 98 [110][111] These nets had not been provided during the four years prior to the strike.[111]

The construction of the bridge was chronicled by the writer Gay Talese in his 1964 book The Bridge: The Building of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. He also wrote several articles about the bridge's construction for The New York Times.[112] The book also contains several drawings by Lili Réthi and photographs by Bruce Davidson.[70]: Cover Page

Opening and early years

Verrazano-Narrows Bridge commemorative stamp, first sold on November 21, 1964, in conjunction with the bridge's opening

The Staten Island approach to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge was the first part of the new project to be completed, and it opened in January 1964.[113] The upper deck was opened on November 21, 1964, at a cost of $320 million (equivalent to $3.019 billion in present dollars).[114] Politicians at all levels of the government, from Brooklyn Borough President Abe Stark to U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, wrote speeches paying tribute to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.[115] The opening ceremony was attended by over 5,000 people, including 1,500 official guests. Several dignitaries, involving the mayor, the governor, and the borough presidents of Brooklyn and Staten Island, cut the gold ribbon. They then joined a motorcade to mark the official opening of the bridge.[116][114] A 50-cent toll was charged to all motorists crossing the bridge.[117] The Verrazano Bridge's opening was celebrated across Staten Island.[118] Moses did not invite any of the 12,000 workers to the opening,[111] so they boycotted the event and instead attended a mass in memory of the three workers who died during construction.[114]

The opening was accompanied by the release of a commemorative postage stamp, which depicted a ship sailing underneath the new span.[119] The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) created a bus route across the bridge to connect Victory Boulevard in Staten Island with the Bay Ridge–95th Street subway station in Brooklyn.[120] This bus service initially saw low patronage, with only 6,000 daily passengers using the route.[121] Five days after the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge opened, the ferry from Staten Island to Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, stopped running, as it was now redundant to the new bridge.[122]

Within the first two months of the bridge's opening, 1.86 million vehicles had used the new crossing, 10% more than originally projected, and this netted the TBTA almost $1 million in toll revenue. The Goethals Bridge, which connected New Jersey to the Staten Island Expressway and the Verrazano Bridge, saw its daily average use increase by 75%, or approximately 300,000 trips total, compared to before the Narrows Bridge opened. The Holland Tunnel from New Jersey to Manhattan, and the Staten Island Ferry from Staten Island to Manhattan, both saw decreased vehicle counts after the bridge opened.[123] In summer 1965, Staten Island saw increased patronage at its beaches, facilitated by the opening of the new bridge.[124] By the time of the bridge's first anniversary, 17 million motorists had crossed the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, paying $9 million in tolls.[125] The bridge had seen 34% more trips than planners had projected.[126] Conversely, 5.5 million fewer passengers and 700,000 fewer vehicles rode the Staten Island Ferry to Manhattan.[127]

The Verrazano Bridge was the last project designed by Ammann, who had designed many of the other major crossings into and within New York City. He died in 1965, the year after the bridge opened.[128] The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge was also the last great public works project in New York City overseen by Moses.[129] The urban planner envisioned that the Verrazano and Throgs Neck Bridges would be the final major bridges in New York City for the time being, since they would complete the city's expressway system.[130]

Additional deck and later years

Although the bridge was constructed with only one six-lane roadway, Ammann had provided extra trusses to support a potential second roadway underneath the main deck.[131] These trusses, which were used to strengthen the bridge, were a design alteration that was added to many bridges in the aftermath of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse in 1940.[70]: 45 The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge became so popular among motorists that in March 1969, the TBTA decided to erect the lower deck[132] at a cost of $22 million.[66]: 1130 The Verrazzano Bridge had not been expected to carry enough traffic to necessitate a second deck until 1978, but traffic patterns over the previous five years had demonstrated the need for extra capacity. By contrast, a lower deck on the George Washington Bridge, connecting New Jersey and Upper Manhattan, had not been built until 31 years after the bridge's 1931 opening.[133] The new six-lane deck opened on June 28, 1969.[133] Originally, the Verrazzano Bridge's Brooklyn end was also supposed to connect to the planned Cross-Brooklyn Expressway, New York State Route 878, and JFK Airport, but the Cross-Brooklyn Expressway project was canceled in 1969.[134]

On June 26, 1976, to celebrate the United States' 200th anniversary, workers placed a very large U.S. flag on the side of the Verrazzano Bridge.[135] The flag, which measured 193 by 366 ft (59 by 112 m),[136] was described in The New York Times as being the size of "a football field and a half"[135] and billed as the world's largest flag.[137] At the time, it was the largest U.S. flag ever made.[111] The flag was supposed to withstand wind speeds of 30 miles per hour (48 km/h), but it ripped apart three days later, when there was a wind speed of 16 mph (26 km/h).[137] The flag had been stuck against the bridge's suspender cables, so any slight wind would have caused the cables to make tears in the flag.[136] A second flag was created in 1980 for the July 4 celebration that year. This flag was even larger at 411 by 210 ft (125 by 64 m) (an area of 71,000 sq ft (6,600 m2)). The new flag was placed along a steel grid so that the suspender cables would not rip it apart.[136] Architectural critic Ada Louise Huxtable derided the new flag as a "simple-minded, vainglorious proposal" and asked, "Does anyone really want to spend $850,000 to upstage the Statue of Liberty?"[138][139]

The TBTA stopped collecting tolls for Brooklyn-bound drivers on the Verrazzano Bridge in 1986 and doubled the toll for Staten Island-bound drivers.[140] This was a result of a bill introduced by Guy V. Molinari, the U.S. representative for Staten Island, as part of an initiative to reduce traffic that accumulated at the toll booth on Staten Island.[141] The one-way toll was initially intended to be part of a six-month pilot program,[142] but resulted in permanent changes to traffic flows on the Verrazzano Bridge. The crossing saw more Brooklyn-bound traffic and less Staten Island-bound traffic as a result.[143] This unidirectional collection remained in effect through 2020, when two-way tolls were restored.[144]

Beginning in 2008, all 262 of the mercury vapor fixtures in the bridge's necklace lighting were replaced with energy-efficient light-emitting diodes. This retrofit was completed in 2009, years before LED street lights were installed in the rest of the city.[145]

The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge's name was originally spelled with one "z". The "Verrazano" name dates to 1960 when governor Rockefeller had signed the bill authorizing the bridge's name as such.[146] A bill to formally change the bridge's name to the variant with two "z"s was introduced by college student Robert Nash in 2016,[147] but it stalled in early 2018.[148][149] The New York State Senate voted to change the name of the bridge in June 2018,[148] and the name change was officially signed into law that October.[150][151]

Renovation

The rebuilding the bridge's upper deck in 2015

In 2014, the city began a $1.5 billion reconstruction project on the bridge. At the time, it was expected to take up to 25 years.[152] The first phase, which cost $235 million and lasted until 2017, included replacing the existing upper deck sections with new orthotropic deck sections, removing the divider on the upper deck, and adding a seventh lane on the upper deck, which was to be used as a high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane.[153] The ramps within the Belt Parkway interchange were also rearranged to allow for a ramp to be constructed for the new HOV lane on the upper deck. The parts for this deck were ordered from China because the parts that the MTA required were no longer manufactured in the United States.[154]

After the upper deck was replaced, parts of the lower deck are to be replaced, but this necessitates the closure of the lower deck during construction. Hence, the MTA opted to replace the upper deck first to add more capacity. The upper level's new HOV lane opened on June 22, 2017.[155] Simultaneously, the MTA dismantled the Staten Island-bound toll booths to speed up westbound traffic.[156] This work was done in advance of the reconstruction of tracks around Penn Station, which severely limited rail service into that station and created more vehicular traffic at crossings to Manhattan.[157] The MTA accelerated some components of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge's reconstruction during the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City in 2020, rebuilding the westbound approach ramp from the Gowanus Expressway[158][159] and adding a fourth lane along that ramp.[160] Long-term plans also call for the installation of a bicycle and pedestrian path on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.[161]

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Will Aid City On Narrows Tunnel; Willard Offers Cooperation Of Railroad At Meeting With Delaney". The New York Times. August 1, 1929. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 13, 2018. ^ "Civic Center Fights Span at Narrows". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. June 22, 1932. p. 33. Retrieved March 14, 2018 – via Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com. ^ "The Narrows Tunnel Is A Vast Project; Engineers Are Making Borings For The Tube To Join Staten Island And Brooklyn". The New York Times. November 23, 1930. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 13, 2018. ^ "Economy Plan Hits Bay Ridge Improvements". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. January 22, 1932. p. 37. Retrieved March 14, 2018 – via Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com. ^ a b "Private Group Studying Plans for Vehicular and Transit Narrows Tunnel". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. May 11, 1934. p. 41. Retrieved March 14, 2018 – via Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com. ^ "Approves Bill for Narrows Span". The New York Times. February 14, 1933. ISSN 0362-4331. 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"Span Approaches Approved By City; Narrows And Throgs Neck Routes Are Advanced By Planning Commission; Moses' Plan Rebuffed; Fourth Ave. Curve Is Deleted In Brooklyn--Alternate Ideas To Be Studied". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 14, 2018. ^ a b c d "City Bars Change In Narrows Plan; Rejects Liberty Bridge Or Tunnel As Substitutes -No Action On Approach". The New York Times. October 21, 1958. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 14, 2018. ^ Egan, Leo (February 19, 1958). "Assembly Votes Narrows Change; Route Shift Bill Is Same As One Vetoed In '57 -- G.O.P. Expects It To Aid Party". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 14, 2018. ^ Bennett, Charles G. (August 14, 1958). "Approach Is Fixed To Narrows Span; Plan Board Rejects Urgent Bay Ridge Objections To The 7th Ave. Brooklyn Route". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 14, 2018. ^ "Narrows Bridge Backed By Mayor; He Supports Moses On City Commitment -- Suit Seeks To Bar Hearing Friday". 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LCCN 64-7832. ^ "Cross-Bay Bridge Urged by Builder". The New York Times. November 4, 1958. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 30, 2018. ^ "Bay Ridge Route for Bridge Upset; Narrows Span Approach on 7th Ave. Is Switched to Parkway by Legislature". The New York Times. March 19, 1959. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 14, 2018. ^ Weaver, Jr., Warren (April 11, 1959). "Governor Backs 7th Avenue Route to Narrows Span; He Vetoes Shore Parkway Approach to Bridge as Costly and Long". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 14, 2018. ^ Bennett, Charles G. (March 26, 1959). "7th Ave. Affirmed As Narrows Link; Over Angry Protests of Bay Ridge Dwellers, City Board Votes to Condemn Land". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 14, 2018. ^ Bennett, Charles G. (April 11, 1959). "Design is Speeded on Narrows Plan; Bridge, to Be Completed 1964, Expected to Spur Staten Island Growth". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. 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Fordham Univ Press. pp. 45. ISBN 978-0-82321-679-6. ^ a b Kinney, John W.; Rothman, Herbert; Stahl, Frank (1966). "Verrazano-Narrow [sic] Bridge: Fabrication and Construction". Journal of the Construction Division. 92 (2). doi:10.1061/JCCEAZ.0000161. Archived from the original on March 15, 2018. Retrieved March 14, 2018. ^ Thomas, Jr., Robert McG. (March 7, 1999). "Leopold H. Just, 95, Is Dead; Designer of New York Bridges". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 14, 2018. ^ Popular Science. Bonnier Corporation. November 1963. p. 74. Retrieved March 16, 2018. ^ Talese, Gay (August 25, 1964). "Tough Bridge Builder Nears End of a Tough Job". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 15, 2018. ^ Chatfield, James (April 1, 1960). "Fort Hamilton Facelift Is Free To Taxpayer, As TBTA Pays Bill" (PDF). New York World-Telegram. p. 1. Retrieved March 14, 2018 – via Fultonhistory.com. ^ Maiorana, Ronald (1961). 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"Bridge is Shaped on Assembly Line; 400-Ton Verrazano Units Fashioned in Jersey Yard 145 Men in Assembly Line". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 15, 2018. ^ Talese, Gay (January 23, 1964). "Bridge Delights 'seaside Supers'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 15, 2018. ^ Stengren, Bernard (October 26, 1963). "First Overwater Steel Segment Is Hoisted to Narrows Bridge". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 15, 2018. ^ Knowles, Clayton (November 20, 1963). "S.I. Planning Now for Great Influx; Maniscalco Tells of Efforts to Keep City From Giving 'Too Much Too Late'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 15, 2018. ^ Stengren, Bernard (April 6, 1963). "Verrazano Bridge, the City's Newest Landmark". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 15, 2018. ^ Stengren, Bernard (March 28, 1964). "Narrows Bridge Is Due to Open Ahead of Schedule in November". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. 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