Brooklyn, NY – Preceding this week’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, State Senator Martin J. Golden issued the following statement:

“50 years after Robert Moses last great project in New York was completed, our community, which has been in the shadow of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, is hurting every day with the tolls. For a year now, I have been working tirelessly to bridge significant toll relief to residents of Brooklyn. My plan, to implement a discount plan for those who travel over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge 3 or more times a month, is feasible, practical, and has worked will with the Port Authority Bridges. With news of more toll increases coming down the pike, we need to stop punishing people who have family, jobs, or go to school on Staten Island.

“In addition to these tolls, we need to finally build and open a bike lane on the bridge. Transportation alternatives are on the rise in our city, and preventing pedestrians and cyclists from accessing all 5 borough is not only unjust, its impractical. We need our Verrazano life-way, our Harbor Ring, built and I will continue to advocate for it.”