Safety First: How NYC Keeps the Verrazzano Bridge and Others Secure

By Idy Perl

The last few months have seen several scary incidents involving bridges, including the Baltimore Bridge collapse, the Manhattan bridge that was stuck in an open position due to the heat, and more. These frightening news stories cause people’s distrust of these massive structures to grow, and many start questioning the conditions of the bridges near them, wanting reassurance that the same thing wouldn’t happen at local bridges. 

A recent bridge infrastructure study that was published by the New York State Comptroller stated that New York State invests a large amount of money every year in the ongoing maintenance of its bridges. In 2023, the estimated total cost for the upkeep of all New York bridges was close to $29 billion. Approximately $19.1 billion of that was just for bridges in New York City, where some of the oldest and largest bridges are located. In fact, out of all NY state counties, New York City has the largest number of old bridges, with 59.7% built before 1949 and over 80% built before 1974. 

The Verrazzano Bridge, which connects Staten Island to Brooklyn, is one of those old bridges. It originally opened in 1964, and the lower deck was added in 1969 to accommodate the growing traffic. Since then, the bridge has been refurbished during the 1990s, 2010s, and again in the 2020s.

The Verrazzano Bridge has several safety features that would get in the way of large ships before they’re able to reach the bridge. It also undergoes a full inspection every two years to ensure the safety of the bridge and the nearly 200,000 vehicles that cross it every day. 

The Verrazzano Bridge is also the longest suspension bridge in in the US, even longer than the Golden Gate Bridge in California, and the second longest in the world. When the bridge was first named in 1960 it was misspelled as the "Verrazano-Narrows Bridge,” with a missing second “z”. The mistake was officially corrected in 2018.