Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge

The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge is a double-deck suspension bridge that links the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City across the Narrows, the strait between New York Harbor and Lower New York Bay. It is the only fixed crossing of the Narrows and carries thirteen lanes of Interstate 278, seven on the upper level and six on the lower level. Othmar Ammann, Leopold Just and other engineers at Ammann and Whitney designed it, and it opened on 21 November 1964, with the lower deck following in 1969. Its central span of 4,260 feet was the longest of any suspension bridge in the world until the Humber Bridge was completed in 1981, and it remains the longest in the Americas. The bridge is named for Giovanni da Verrazzano, who in 1524 was the first European explorer to enter New York Harbor. A spelling error in the construction contract left the name with one z until it was corrected in 2018.