The Verrazano-Narrows bridge is the longest double-decked suspension bridge in the United States, connects Staten island to Brooklyn, and has a typo in it’s name (even if all this time you too also thought it has always been spelled with two Z’s).

The bridge was named to honor Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano. He was the first European explorer to discover and enter the New York Harbor and hudson river in 1524. The Verazzano-Narrows bridge was named after him and was the largest bridge in the world when the construction was completed in 1964, surpassing the Golden gates bridge by 60 feet. Today, it is the 11th largest bridge in the world and the largest bridge in the United States. It has even been the starting point of the New York City Marathon since 1976 on the Staten Island side. However, none of this changes the fact that the name has been spelt wrong all this years.

Giovanni’s name is spelled with two Z’s but the bridge’s name only has one. Robert Nash, resident of Dyker Heights, has started a petition to have the error corrected. He told Brooklyn Paper how it has been 52 years now and we have all been spelling it wrong. He continue to state that if we are really going to honor Giovanni Verrazzano, the bridge should be spelled properly.

As of this week, an MTA spokesman has stated that there are no plans to change the name of the bridge due to the cost expense to get new signs. The last bridge to have its name change was in 2008, when the Triborough Bridge was renamed to the R.F.K Bridge. This name change set the city back $4 million because of new road signs. In 1964, when the bridge opened, its name has a typo error and was never correct, said that MTA. So why now?

If you would like to see Giovanni da Verrazzano reclaim his true honor, sign the petition to have the bridge’s spelling error corrected! https://www.gopetition.com/petitions/correctly-spell-verrazzano-in-verrazano-narrows-bridge.html

What do you think about the petition? Is it something you would like to see happen or do you not mind the misspelling? Join our conversation on Facebook!

Posted by Anthony Licciardello on
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