Verrazano Bridge
Streetsblog Basics
Cuomo Electioneering: Robbing From Transit to Pay Staten Island Motorists
Which governor is worse on transit issues, Chris Christie or Andrew Cuomo? Amazingly, New York's chief executive could win this race to the bottom. The latest move from Cuomo would cut a guaranteed source of revenue for the MTA that Albany can never raid for its own purposes.
February 6, 2014
Verrazano Bridge Path Advocates Release Map, Ask MTA to Commit to Study
The Harbor Ring Committee, a coalition working to complete the missing link in a route around New York Harbor with a bicycle and pedestrian path across the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, has released a map of the bike route, a 50-mile loop across four boroughs and Hudson County, New Jersey. Meanwhile, advocates are trying to get the MTA to firmly commit to a feasibility study they hope could pave the way for building the bridge path.
September 27, 2013
Streetfilms Flashback: The 2 AM Ride Across the Verrazano Bridge
Clarence has been rifling through the vault for old footage as he prepares a montage for Transportation Alternatives' 40th birthday bash. He's turned up some classic clips going back to the mid-90s, and we'll be sharing some of them this summer on Friday afternoons.
June 28, 2013
Advocates Call on Cuomo to Support Path on Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
Next year, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge will mark its 50th anniversary. Although the structure was designed to accommodate pedestrian and bicycle paths, they were never included. Now, advocates are hoping a renewed push can close the gap in what they're calling the Harbor Ring, a 50-mile loop around Upper New York Bay. This week, the initiative launched an online petition to Governor Cuomo, asking him to support the plan and move it forward.
March 29, 2013
The Long-Missing Link: New Push for Verrazano Bridge Bike-Ped Path
Before the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge opened in 1964, New Yorkers on foot or bike could travel between Staten Island and Brooklyn by taking a ferry from 69th Street in Bay Ridge to St. George. Since the bridge opened, there are only two times each year when people are allowed to cross it under their own power: the New York City Marathon, held every November, and the Five Boro Bike Tour each May.
October 4, 2012
Nadler Revives Fight Against Trucker Giveaway on Verrazano
The one-way tolls on the Verrazano Bridge have been a major cause of truck traffic in New York City since they were instituted in 1986. Though numerous efforts to restore two-way tolls have failed over the last two and a half decades, technological progress may finally bring victory within reach. Congressman Jerry Nadler thinks that the MTA's moves toward cashless tolling could make two-way tolls politically feasible, and he's trying to pass the federal legislation necessary to allow them.
October 15, 2010
MTA Blame Game: The View from Staten Island
Here's State Senator Andrew Lanza, a Staten Island Republican, explaining why he supports tolls on the East River bridges. For Staten Island drivers looking at a $3 hike in cash tolls to cross the Verrazano (or a $1.32 hike for locals with E-ZPass), the sight of other motorists getting a free pass into Manhattan must be a source of perpetual gall and resentment.
April 6, 2009
The Perfect Argument for Congestion Pricing
The Staten Island Advance ran an article last Thursday about a "perfect storm" of crushing Staten Island-bound traffic on the Gowanus Expressway and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. To give you a sense of the frustrated tone of the article, it was entitled "21-Month Nightmare: Agency Offers Zero Solutions for Verrazano Lane Mess." Here's how it began:
June 19, 2007