NEW YORK — The New York State Assembly approved a bill to correct the spelling of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York City.
Officials named the bridge that links Staten Island and Brooklyn after Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano. However, in doing so, they dropped a second z from the explorer’s name.
Despite the name change, state workers will only correct the spelling on signs only when updating them as a part of their regular maintenance.
“This is something that is important to the Italian-American community, and something that they’ve been fighting for for 60 years,” the Staten Island Advance quoted state Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, R-East Shore/Brooklyn, as saying.
da Verrazzano discovered New York Harbor in 1524. The bill heads to Gov. Andrew Cuomo for his review.