A Look Back: Construction of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge

One of the most significant changes in the landscape of Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights — which continues to have reverberations over 50 years after — was the construction of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. The construction of it, along with the accompanying expansion of the Gowanus Expressway, resulted in the loss of approximately 800 buildings to eminent domain, as well as displacing some 7,000 area residents, and the new thoroughfare divided the neighborhoods in a way they never had been before. This photo, from the files of this newspaper, dates back to a time when the bridge was promised but not yet a reality.