IL PENSIERO “THE THOUGHT”
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Giugno 2024 THE ONLY ITALIAN NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED IN THE STATE OF MISSOURI
An Italian American Publication
NUMERO 6
Laccetti: Bridging the Gap From A to Z - The Verrazzano Mystery Submitted by Silvio Laccetti
The Verrazzano-Narrows bridge boasts 1 million bolts, 3 million rivets, 143,000 miles of wiring strands contained within 26,108 wires comprising the four suspension cables. But there apparently is not enough room for the letter “z” to properly spell the bridge’s name on road signs. In 1524, Giovanni da Verrazzano became the first European to enter New York Harbor. Today, across The Narrows entrance to this harbor, stands a monumental bridge named in honor of the Italian explorer. It is the longest suspension bridge in America, longer even than the Golden Gate Bridge. While this bridge should be a source of pride to all ItalianAmericans in the metropolitan area, it has become, instead, an annoyance to many. Since its opening in 1964, signs referring to this bridge carry a dreadful spelling error: They drop the second “z” and misspell the bridge Verrazano. Just a few days ago, a young and proud Italian-American, Robert Nash, was the latest calling attention to this error. He instituted a petition (at GoPetition.com) to MTA Bridge and Tunnels asking that the problem be addressed. His effort is garnering social media and popular support,
including that of MTA Commissioner Alen Cappelli. Too costly to fix. But the MTA says the process of correcting relevant signage and documents is too costly and there will be no change. So, following this logic, will there never again be a street, bridge, park, roadway or other public place that can undergo a name change? I hardly think so, especially with so much historical revision and reconsideration occurring. Just to add a note of befuddling irony here, there are two other bridges named after the Italian explorer. One, the Verrazzano-Jamestown Bridge in Rhode Island, is correctly spelled. The other, in Maryland, connecting Assateague Island with the mainland, is misspelled a la New York. To think, it was only a few weeks ago that we crowned winners in the National Spelling Bee. What would these kids say? “We can spell Gesellschaft, but can you tell us what Verrazzano Bridge you are referring to? In a sentence, please.” So really, what’s the fuss? Well, even small matters like misspellings reveal deeper aspects of an issue. To begin with, understanding the history and context of naming the bridge will provide insight. When the bridge was first planned, Robert Moses, the 20th century master urban planner, opposed naming it for the Italian navigator. Moses felt that Verrazzano was only a minor historical figure and that the
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name was too difficult for him to pronounce anyway. Some sources indicate Moses preferred to name the structure simply the Narrows Bridge in order to save space. For good measure, it should be noted as well that the Throg’s Neck Bridge, between Queens and the Bronx, has also carried a misspelling for decades — it should be Throgg’s Neck. The name has its roots in a section of the Bronx where an English associate of Roger Williams named John Throckmorton settled. Over the years, his name was corrupted to Frocke, and the surrounding area Frockes Neck. Eventually it became known as Frogs Neck and ultimately morphed into Throggs Neck. But the second “g” was dropped in the bridge’s name. Moses, again, was the culprit; he claimed the longer version would not fit on many street signs. Fortunately, the Italian Historical Society of America lobbied Gov. Nelson Rockefeller and he had the final word — if not the correct spelling, for early on in the typed documents the second “z” was dropped and lost to future documentation up to the present day. Historical accuracy. Apart from the problem of historical and literary accuracy (and perhaps some prejudice) the erroneous spelling should be unacceptable in today’s era of political correctness and identity politics. Everything is scrutinized relating to ethnic, national and racial groups, from pronunciation of names Continued on page 5