Landmark North America
Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge
The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge is a very long bridge in New York City. It hangs from huge cables between two giant towers. Ships sail under it!
The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge is a double-decked suspension bridge across the Narrows, the entrance to New York Harbor. It joins Brooklyn and Staten Island. When it opened in 1964, its main span, 4,260 feet between the towers, was the longest suspension span in the world.
The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge spans the Narrows at the mouth of Upper New York Bay, between Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn and Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island. Opened in 1964 with the world's longest suspension span, it has 693-foot towers set 4,260 feet apart, so far apart that they had to allow for the curve of the Earth. It is named for Giovanni da Verrazzano, the first European explorer to sail into New York Harbor, in 1524.
Photo: Photo: Andreas Praefcke, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge
The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge is in New York City, in the United States. It joins two parts of the city: Brooklyn and Staten Island.
It crosses a narrow stretch of water called the Narrows.
The bridge crosses the Narrows, a strait at the mouth of Upper New York Bay, and joins the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Staten Island. Its ends sit at two old forts, Fort Hamilton and Fort Wadsworth, which guarded the harbor for more than a century.
The bridge is also part of the highway system: it gives the shortest road route between the middle Atlantic states and Long Island.
MTA Bridges and Tunnels, which runs the bridge, places it at the mouth of Upper New York Bay, with its ends at historic Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn and Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island. It links Brooklyn with Staten Island and is a major link in the interstate highway system, providing the shortest route between the middle Atlantic states and Long Island.
In Brooklyn it connects to the Belt Parkway and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway; on Staten Island, which the MTA says developed rapidly after the bridge opened in 1964, it joins the Staten Island Expressway.
- Where
- the Narrows, between Brooklyn and Staten Island, New York City
- Opened
- 1964
- Main span
- 4,260 feet between the towers
- Tower height
- 693 feet
A record span in 1964
The bridge opened in 1964. Back then, the part hanging between its towers was the longest of its kind in the world!
It is named after an explorer who sailed into the harbor long ago.
The bridge opened in 1964. At that time, its suspension span, the part hanging between the two towers, was the longest in the world.
It is named after Giovanni da Verrazzano, an explorer who in 1524 became the first European to sail into New York Harbor.
The MTA records that when the bridge opened in 1964 it had the world's longest suspension span. It is named after Giovanni da Verrazzano, who in 1524 was the first European explorer to sail into New York Harbor.
Staten Island, the MTA notes, saw rapid development after the bridge opened in 1964.
Towers, cables and two decks
The bridge has two very tall towers. Steel cables hang between them and hold up the road.
The road has two levels, one on top of the other!
The bridge is a suspension bridge: its road hangs from steel cables that run over two tall towers. Each tower is 693 feet (about 211 meters) high and weighs 27,000 tons. Three million rivets and one million bolts hold each tower together.
The roadway has two decks, one above the other. In summer the steel cables stretch in the heat, so the roadway hangs 12 feet lower than in winter.
The MTA gives the towers' height as 693 feet and the distance between them as 4,260 feet. Each tower weighs 27,000 tons and is held together with three million rivets and one million bolts.
Seasonal expansion and contraction of the steel cables makes the double-decked roadway 12 feet lower in summer than in winter. The towers are also 1 5/8 inches farther apart at the top than at the base, because over a span this long the builders had to allow for the curvature of the Earth.
Built for a round Earth
The Earth is round, like a ball. The towers are so far apart that their tops lean away from each other, just a tiny bit!
The gap at the top is wider by less than two inches.
The two towers stand 4,260 feet apart. Over such a long distance, the builders had to allow for the curve of the Earth, so the tops of the towers are 1 5/8 inches farther apart than their bases.
That is less than two inches, over a distance of more than three quarters of a mile.
Because the 4,260-foot distance between the towers made it necessary to compensate for the Earth's curvature, the MTA says, the towers are 1 5/8 inches farther apart at their tops than at their bases.
The same steel that holds the bridge up also responds to the seasons: as the cables expand and contract, the roadway rises and falls by 12 feet between winter and summer.
- Each tower weighs
- 27,000 tons
- Rivets in each tower
- 3 million (plus 1 million bolts)
- Summer sag
- roadway 12 feet lower than in winter
From the air
In this photo, we see the bridge from an airplane, high above. Can you find the two white towers and the red ship?
This photo was taken from the air in 2003. The long bridge crosses the Narrows from Brooklyn, on the left, to Staten Island, on the lower right, and its shadow falls across the water.
A red ship sails below the bridge, and at the top of the picture you can see the beaches and buildings of Coney Island.
The aerial photograph (2003, by Andreas Praefcke) looks across the Narrows: the two towers and the double-decked span with its shadow on the water, Brooklyn's shore on the left, Staten Island at the lower right, ships in the channel and Coney Island at the top.
The MTA notes that the bridge is a key link between the middle Atlantic states and Long Island.
Amazing facts
-
The tops of the two towers are a tiny bit farther apart than their bottoms, because the Earth is round!
The towers are 1 5/8 inches farther apart at the top than at the base, to allow for the curve of the Earth.
Set 4,260 feet apart, the towers are 1 5/8 inches farther apart at their tops than at their bases to compensate for the Earth's curvature.
-
In summer the road hangs lower than in winter!
The steel cables stretch in summer and shrink in winter, so the roadway is 12 feet lower in summer.
Seasonal expansion and contraction of the cables leaves the roadway 12 feet lower in summer than in winter.
-
Each tower is held together by three million rivets!
Each 27,000-ton tower is held together with three million rivets and one million bolts.
Each tower weighs 27,000 tons, fastened with three million rivets and one million bolts.
Words to know
- suspension bridge
- a bridge whose road hangs from cables that run over tall towers
- span
- the part of a bridge between two supports
- strait
- a narrow stretch of water joining two larger bodies of water
- borough
- one of the five large parts that make up New York City
- rivet
- a metal pin used to join pieces of metal tightly together
- curvature
- how much something bends, like the curve of the round Earth
Discovery challenge
-
What holds up the road of this bridge?
What kind of bridge is the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge?
What type of bridge, with its road hung from cables over two 693-foot towers, is this?
- Cables hanging from towers (a suspension bridge)
- Stone arches
- Floating boats
Show the answer
Cables hanging from towers (a suspension bridge)
Big cables hanging from tall towers!
A suspension bridge.
A suspension bridge.
-
Which two parts of New York City does the bridge join?
Which two boroughs does the bridge connect?
Between which two boroughs, from Fort Hamilton to Fort Wadsworth, does the bridge run?
- Brooklyn and Staten Island
- Manhattan and the Bronx
- Queens and Manhattan
Show the answer
Brooklyn and Staten Island
Brooklyn and Staten Island!
Brooklyn and Staten Island.
Brooklyn and Staten Island.
-
When did the bridge open?
In which year did the bridge open?
In which year did the bridge open with the world's longest suspension span?
- 1964
- 1524
- 2003
Show the answer
1964
In 1964!
1964.
1964.
-
Why are the tops of the towers farther apart than the bottoms?
Why are the towers 1 5/8 inches farther apart at the top?
What did the 4,260-foot distance between the towers make it necessary to compensate for?
- Because the Earth is round
- Because of the wind
- Because of a mistake
Show the answer
Because the Earth is round
Because the Earth is round!
Because of the curve of the Earth.
The Earth's curvature.
-
Who is the bridge named after?
Which explorer is the bridge named after?
Who, in 1524, was the first European explorer to sail into New York Harbor?
- Giovanni da Verrazzano
- Christopher Columbus
- Marco Polo
Show the answer
Giovanni da Verrazzano
Giovanni da Verrazzano!
Giovanni da Verrazzano.
Giovanni da Verrazzano.
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Explain how a suspension bridge holds up its road with cables and towers.
- Explain why very tall, far-apart towers must allow for the curve of the Earth.
- Explain how metal expands in heat and contracts in cold, and why a long bridge sags more in summer.
Recommended ages: 4 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- The towers lean apart by less than two inches over three quarters of a mile. Why would engineers care about such a tiny amount?
- How might a new bridge change life on an island like Staten Island?
- The bridge is named after an explorer. What would you name a new bridge in your town, and why?
Try at home or in class
- Build a model suspension bridge: two stacks of books as towers, a string draped over them and taped down at the ends, and a strip of card hung from the string with paper clips.
- Draw a large circle for the Earth and two short lines standing straight out from it a little apart: see how their tops spread apart.
Key vocabulary: suspension bridge, span, strait, borough, rivet, curvature
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge , MTA Bridges and Tunnels (Metropolitan Transportation Authority)
- File:Verrazano Narrows Bridge aerial 2003.jpg , Wikimedia Commons
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Picture credits
- Photo: Photo: Andreas Praefcke, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons · source