See Gay Talese Talk About The Verrazano Bridge At The Transit Museum On Thursday

Did you know that 5,000 Bay Ridge homes were destroyed to build the Verrazano Bridge?

Renowned journalist and author Gay Talese will be at the New York Transit Museum tomorrow discussing details like that and more from his book The Bridge, about the Verrazano Bridge, which turns 50 next week. Talese will be joined by New York Times reporter Sam Roberts and Joe Spratt, an ironworker whose grandfather helped build the bridge.

Published in 1964 and set to be re-released this fall, Talese’s book explores what went into the bridge’s construction, engineering, and the political drama that erupted in Bay Ridge before the ground was even broken. At the time, Talese was a reporter for the Times, covering angry protests in Southwest Brooklyn against the building of the bridge.

Measuring 13,700 feet in length, the Verrazano Bridge is still the longest suspension bridge in the United States, and the sixth longest in the world.

The talk will take place on Thursday, November 13, from 6:30pm to 8:30pm at the Transit Museum (Boerum Place, near Schermerhorn Street, in Downtown Brooklyn), and tickets are free.