Vintage Aerial Photograph of Bay Ridge, Staten Island, and Verrazano Bridge Under Construction in 1963

May 17, 1963: A view of sleepy Staten Island and “The Bridge — the $325,000,000 Verrazano-Narrows span, which will join Fort Wadsworth on the island with Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn when it is completed.” The booming growth of the island chagrined some, who “gloomily forecast intolerable overcrowding of schools, stores, living space and roads. They are less sanguine than the enthusiasts about the solution of such problems as lack of sewers, of final mapping and paving of streets and of ‘City Hall red tape’ that discourages prospective industrial development.”
May 17, 1963: A view of sleepy Staten Island and “The Bridge — the $325,000,000 Verrazano-Narrows span, which will join Fort Wadsworth on the island with Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn when it is completed.” The booming growth of the island chagrined some, who “gloomily forecast intolerable overcrowding of schools, stores, living space and roads. They are less sanguine than the enthusiasts about the solution of such problems as lack of sewers, of final mapping and paving of streets and of ‘City Hall red tape’ that discourages prospective industrial development.”
Photo: Lively Morgue
(photo back)
(photo back)
Photo: Lively Morgue

The Lively Morgue is a daily photo blog from the New York Times in which an original photo from the newspaper's archives is reposted along with tidbits of information gleaned from the historical article it accompanied. Along with a rescan of the original photograph, the backs of each photo are also scanned, giving a behind-the-scenes look at the editorial process of one of the world's best newspapers.

Today's posting features a shot from May 17th, 1963 showing an aerial view from over Brooklyn of Bay Ridge, Fort Wadsworth in Staten Island, and the Verrazano Bridge under construction.

May 17, 1963: A view of sleepy Staten Island and “The Bridge — the $325,000,000 Verrazano-Narrows span, which will join Fort Wadsworth on the island with Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn when it is completed.” The booming growth of the island chagrined some, who “gloomily forecast intolerable overcrowding of schools, stores, living space and roads. They are less sanguine than the enthusiasts about the solution of such problems as lack of sewers, of final mapping and paving of streets and of ‘City Hall red tape’ that discourages prospective industrial development.”

The original article from 1963 has more.

Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge
Matt Coneybeare

Matt Coneybeare

Editor in Chief

Matt enjoys exploring the City's with his partner and son. He is an avid marathon runner, and spends most of his time eating, running, and working on cool stuff.

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