Autumn rain and the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge

October 29, 2018 By Lore Croghan Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge rises out of the mist during an autumn nor'easter. Eagle photos by Lore Croghan

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Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain

Telling me just what a fool I’ve been.

– From “Rhythm of the Rain” by the Cascades

If your favorite color is gray, this is your lucky day.

In these new rainswept photos of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and Shore Road Promenade, autumnal shades and tones of misty gray predominate.

The nor’easter that rolled through Brooklyn over the weekend painted the Bay Ridge shoreline with these soft hues.

Smart people stayed indoors to drink hot chocolate and binge-watch Netflix.

Only a foolish few wandered around taking pictures on Bay Ridge’s windy waterfront. They were rewarded, though — with a glimpse of a cruise ship called Norwegian Breakaway as it sailed beneath the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.

And moments later, a second beautiful cruise ship, Anthem of the Seas, passed beneath the bridge on its way to the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

The two proud vessels brightened the gloomy view for a few moments.

Otherwise, gray was the winning hue, even underfoot in puddles on the promenade that captured colorless reflections of nearby trees and lampposts.

An inviting staircase heads up a hill in Shore Park near the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.

You had to walk across the pedestrian bridge over the Belt Parkway and head into Bay Ridge’s side streets to glimpse bright patches of color. Here and there, a few trees had leaves that have turned autumnal shades of yellow and red.

The iconic Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, which was built a half-century ago, recently had the spelling of its name changed. Now it matches that of Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano. He discovered New York Harbor in 1524.

Until a recently passed bill corrected the spelling, it had been the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge with one Z. The mistaken spelling was caused by a typo in a construction contract, or so the story goes.