VERRAZANO-NARROWS BRIDGE

The  VERRAZANO-NARROWS BRIDGE (1964) is the only bridge in New York City with a misspelling.  The bridge honors Giovanni da Verrazzno, but, ironically the Metropolitan Transportation Authority misspelled Verrazzano's name with only one Z.   

The misspelled Verrazano Bridge spans New York Harbor connecting Manhattan to Brooklyn and Staten Island.  The bridge extends 7,200 feet and has a 4,620 foot center span (in comparison to 4,200 for the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco).  Named in honor of  the explorer, Giovanni da Verrazzano the first European explorer to sail into the waters of the New York Harbor, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world until the building of the Humber Bridge in East Yorkshire, England in 1981.  

The Verrazano Bridge is a double-decked bridge, built by Othmar H. Ammann, with a six-lane-wide roadway.  One hundred and eighty-eight tons of steel were used in the construction of this bridge, three times the amount used in building the Empire State Building.  The Brooklyn end of the bridge is at Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn and the Staten Island end at Fort Wadsworth.  The 262 "necklace" lights on the bridge were replaced with energy-saving light-emitting diode bulbs in 2008.  Each light weights 20 pounds and the bridge is environmentally green!