New York Marathon bridge spelling correction passes state senate

State lawmakers vote to finally spell 'Verrazzano' correctly. However, it will still remain the highest elevation point on the @nycmarathon course!! https://t.co/VAS41Mzlit via @nypmetro

— Peter Ciaccia (@peter_ciaccia) June 20, 2018

New York City marathoners may shortly have to mind their p’s and q’s–and z’s–when referring to the first bridge they must cross on the marathon course.

The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, named for the Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, who mapped much of the east coast of what is now the U.S. and Canada (including New York harbour, in 1524), should rightly have two z’s, but one misspelling on a contract meant the name has consistently been misspelled since its construction in 1959. The New York State Senate set out to put things right yesterday, unanimously passing a bill to fix the error. The bill must now be passed by the state assembly before the correction becomes official.

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As outgoing president of the New York Road Runners, Peter Ciaccia, humorously tweeted on the subject, fixing the spelling of the bridge’s name won’t change the fact that it’s a steep climb to the highest point on the marathon course, and it comes early as runners cross over from the race’s starting point on Staten Island into Brooklyn.

According to a report in the New York Post, road signs would reflect the corrected spelling as they are replaced through wear and tear, rather than in a wholesale fashion, which could cost millions of dollars.

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