PHOTO by Bill Higgins

The Noble Maritime Collection is excited to present a four-part lecture series by Patricia M. Salmon called The Bridge and Staten Island: Unplanned Chaos and Disorder about the opening of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in 1964. Admission is by donation, and visitors may attend one, a few, or all four parts of the series.

Join us for the final part of this series on Sunday, July 28 at 12:30 PM. Staten Island was changed and it was changing overnight. Sewers, utilities, schools, roadways, public transportation and more had not been prepared for the onslaught of new residents who began arriving on the island once “The Bridge” was opened. Houses were bought as quickly as they were built. Schools were scrambling to find seats for students. The antiquated sewer system of Staten Island could not handle the overload. How did the politicians respond? What planning had been put into place? Who were the allies or adversaries of development? Who sought to make a meaningful plan for Staten Island development? We will wrap up this series with a look at how the events of the 1960s affected Staten Island through the following decades and beyond.