Opening of Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge

Date: November 21, 1964 • Location: Fort Wadsworth, United States

The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, connecting Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City, opened to traffic as the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time.

The Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge is a suspension bridge connecting the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City, New York, U.S. It spans the Narrows, a body of water linking the relatively enclosed New York Harbor with Lower New York Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. It is the only fixed crossing of the Narrows. The double-deck bridge carries 13 lanes of Interstate 278: seven on the upper level and six on the lower level. The span is named for Giovanni da Verrazzano, who in 1524 was the first European explorer to enter New York Harbor and the Hudson River.