USPS Debuts Verrazano Narrows Bridge Stamp For 50th Anniversary

The United States Postal Service issued a brand new stamp depicting the Verrazano Narrows Bridge on March 4, commemorating the 50th anniversary of one of the world’s largest suspension bridges.

From the postal service’s description:

[T]he stamp captures the grandeur of the Verrazano, not only showing its sheer size and scale, but also giving a sense of the sweeping curve of the double-decker roadway. The artist chose to showcase the bridge at twilight, which offers an interesting play of light and shadow.

Not to mention that sunrises and sunsets are the best times to view the iconic bridge, so it’s no surprise that illustrator Dan Cosgrove chose to capture it then.

The 4,260-foot-long, 690-foot-tall bridge opened on November 21, 1964, the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time (it remains the longest in the Americas today). It’s named for Giovanni da Verrazzano, an Italian explorer credited with discovering New York Bay in 1524. He was leading what was believed to be the first exploration by Europeans of the North American northeast coastline since the Norse expeditions more than 500 years earlier.

It’s not the first time the bridge has graced postage. On the occasion of the bridge’s opening, the USPS issued a 5-cent stamp. And in 2006, a stamp featuring the bridge was issued as part of the “Wonders of America” series.

The stamp itself is neither a forever stamp or a standard 49-cent stamp, but comes in at a whopping $5.60. It’s fitting, given that it depicts the bridge with the highest toll in the nation. We wonder if Staten Islanders will get a discount.