The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge is set to unfurl a massive American flag ahead of Independence Day as New York prepares to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States.<\/p>\n
According to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the flag will be displayed from the city\u2019s longest bridge throughout the Fourth of July weekend.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI am especially proud that my team was able to get this over the finish line with our partners in government, ensuring that the flag would be flown in time for the Fourth of July and the 250th anniversary celebrations,\u201d said State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton, who represents the North Shore of Staten Island and parts of South Brooklyn.<\/p>\n
The project has been in the works for more than a year. In April 2025, Scarcella-Spanton\u2019s office released a statement detailing a push for the flag involving a Staten Island college student and several local elected officials.<\/p>\n
That same month, Scarcella-Spanton, Council Member David Carr and Assembly Member Michael Tannousis sent a letter to the MTA requesting that the flag be flown ahead of the semiquincentennial.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is so meaningful to see this effort that has been years in the making get done. For the thousands of people who will pass over the bridge, the flag will serve as a reminder of our country\u2019s commitment to liberty and justice as we celebrate such a momentous occasion,\u201d Scarcella-Spanton said.<\/p>\n
The push for the flag is, in part, a callback to the Bicentennial celebration in 1976, when a large American flag was flown from the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the nation.<\/p>\n
The bicentennial flag spanned 71,000 square feet, which was significantly larger than a full sized NFL football field. However the MTA has not publicly laid out official dimensions for this year\u2019s display.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it would be fantastic to have the flag displayed as was done in 1976,\u201d said Jack Torre, a trustee at the Bay Ridge Historical Society.\n<\/p>\n
However, the flag display in 1976 was marred by controversy when wind pushed the flag against the bridge\u2019s steelwork, tearing it apart on June 28, 1976.\n<\/p>\n
Torre voiced concerns that some of the same issues that affected the 1976 display could arise again this year.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want a repeat of 1976 when the flag lasted a very short time before being torn apart,\u201d said Torre.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\u201cFlying the flag will be weather-dependent. We will monitor forecasts and current weather conditions closely and fly the flag only if sustained winds are below 25 miles per hour,\u201d an official from the MTA said in a statement emailed to Brooklyn Paper.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to Torre, the choice to fly the flag over the Narrows also carries historical significance for the surrounding region.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Battle of Brooklyn was fought not far from where the bridge stands today. The historical significance of that battle and the location where the British came ashore is well-known,\u201d Torre said.<\/p>\n
The Battle of Brooklyn, also known as the Battle of Long Island, was one of the major early battles of the Revolutionary War. British and Hessian forces landed in southwest Brooklyn near Gravesend Bay in August 1776 before advancing inland against American forces.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe British armada anchored in close proximity to where the bridge stands today,\u201d Torre told Brooklyn Paper.\n<\/p>\n
Torre said the bridge itself has become a cultural landmark for the surrounding communities in Brooklyn and Staten Island.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bridge has become a symbol of Bay Ridge. We are proud that it has recognized the accomplishment of Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524 as the first European to explore the Atlantic coast of North America.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge is set to unfurl a massive American flag ahead of Independence Day as New York…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":109901,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[32564,7727,40550,108283,2610,9,24,12,370,63,134,136,135,16110],"class_list":["post-282429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-america250","tag-bay-ridge","tag-fourth-of-july","tag-giovanni-di-verrazzano","tag-neighborhoods","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-news","tag-newsletter","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news","tag-verrazzano-narrows-bridge"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282429\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}