Bay Ridge

A salute to Bay Ridge’s bridge, which is the Verrazzano with two Zs

Eye on Real Estate

October 17, 2018 By Lore Croghan Brooklyn Daily Eagle
All hail the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. This is our first chance to type its name with its new spelling. Eagle photos by Lore Croghan
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You’re never too old for a spelling lesson.

This one comes courtesy of Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Bay Ridge residents, Brooklyn writers, pay attention: Two Rs and two Zs.

It’s V-E-R-R-A-Z-Z-A-N-O now.

For a half-century, everyone has been spelling the name of the iconic bridge between Bay Ridge and Staten Island without the second Z. The genesis of this typo was an incorrect notation on a contract, or so the story goes.

The governor recently signed legislation that changes the 13,700-foot span’s name to match that of Giovanni da Verrazzano, the Italian explorer who discovered New York Harbor in 1524.
The transit agency expects the signage changes will cost $200,000 to $250,000.

Don’t expect the spelling to be corrected all at once on the 96 signs that point the way to the bridge, though. MTA officials said this will be done as the signs are replaced “under a normal schedule of maintenance,” a spokesman for the MTA said when Cuomo signed the bill.

Surely the transit agency has more pressing issues to deal with than the spelling of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, as we shall hereafter call it. It seems “lo-pro,” which is what our family calls low-priority stuff, compared with the urgent need for the MTA to fix our broken subway system.

That said, seeing the starkly beautiful span get a moment of media attention made us want to take new pictures of it.

 

‘How sweet it is’

We chose a day with sunshine and soft blue October skies for our photo shoot.

The ideal spot to snap shots of the bridge is of course Shore Road Promenade, which runs alongside the waters of New York Harbor.

First we walked in the direction of the 69th Street Pier to find good vantage points for our pictures.

Some folks were fishing in the shadow of the mighty bridge, while others cycled or strolled along the promenade.

Later, we doubled back and headed down the path towards Bath Beach. We walked beneath the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge past the “How Sweet It Is!” greeting sign that former Borough President Marty Markowitz installed on the Belt Parkway many years ago.

This expression, as connoisseurs of old TV shows know, is from Jackie Gleason’s series “The Honeymooners.”

The bridge is beautiful when photographed from this side, too.

That night, we returned to the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge for a quick look at the necklace of lights it wears by night.

By the way, the span is important because it’s the longest suspension bridge in the United States.

 

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