Beaten but unbowed
The Verrazano Narrows Bridge has staggering logistic importance. The link between Brooklyn and Staten Island is taken for granted now, but those who had to commute without the bridge until 1964, especially on tough frozen and foggy days, breathe with gasps of relief every time the broad lanes between the spans speed them to their destinations. The ferry service that preceded the bridge was unreliable in winter. It is easy to overlook the strategic part the Verrazano Narrows Bridge in linking Long Island with the main body of the United States, but the impact on our economy is as gigantic as the tangible dimensions of this landmark structure. The Staten Island Expressway, the Expressway between Brooklyn and Queens and the Belt Parkway all depend in some measure on the Verrazano Narrows Bridge for their own network values. 21st century engineers marvel at how their predecessors of the 1960s used mountains of rivets and bolts to hold the two 27 thousand ton towers that rise almost 700 feet in the sky, in place. Students of design re-live the calculations that keep the towers an inch or so further from each other at their tops than at the bases, to compensate for the earth’s gentle rise over 4 thousand feet. Ship captains know that the bridge sinks closer to the water in New York’s fierce summer, than the hold of its taut cables of steel, at the height of winter. However, lay people from all nations can simply stand in uninformed awe at the majestic sweep of this suspension bridge. The Verrazano Narrows Bridge was the last masterpiece of the legendary Othmar Ammann, and must ranks amongst the best of his creations. The Verrazano Narrows Bridge is associated with path-breaking history, Fort Hamilton at one end of the bridge and Fort Wadsworth at the other have both rendered yeoman service in guarding entrance to the New York harbor. Giovanni de Verrazano, who the bridge honors, was the European to enter New York through the harbor in 1524. The foundations and construction type set new benchmarks for the age. Work started in 1959 and was opened to traffic in 1964. It then had the longest span anywhere in the world. The Verrazano Narrows Bridge continues to serve New York State with such steadfast reliability that it has a special place in the minds of all who use it and of those responsible for its maintenance. Each of its two decks has 3 lanes in either direction, and is used by almost 200 thousand vehicles a day. Staten Island and Brooklyn are beholden to this visionary structure. They could not have developed during the past four decades without the links that the bridge provides. The famed New York Marathon starts in the vicinity of the bridge. Five other bridges have come up in Europe, China and Japan with longer spans, but New Yorkers continue to keep the pride of place for the Verrazano Narrows in their hearts.
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New York is not accustomed to being second or below in anything. However the shame that normally accompanies a cab-driver when she or he is overtaken in the grid, does not apply to the mighty Verrazano as proud residents like to call the bridge across the Narrows, linking 