Gay Talese and the Untold Stories of the Verrazano

When it comes to a major bridge, the history books all mention things like which mayor championed the project, who the president was at time, and in some cases who designed it. No one mentions the worker who helped to build the bridge, who’s contribution survives long after he does. Workers that die are mourned, but not for very long, and the large majority of those who worked on the project are barely known at all. Few talk about the stories of these men, even though some have very interesting stories indeed. James J. Braddock for example, was the heavyweight champion of the world from 1935-1937, before he became a crane operator working on the Verrazano bridge. If a man like Braddock, who was played by Russell Crowe in a movie about his life is barely remembered, what chance do the countless others have of being remembered?

Because of this, Gay Talese’s work covering the bridge intrigued me. Talese often chose to dedicate the time to talk about the workers of the Verrazano, whereas most other contemporary reporters would only discuss the bridge as a project. He would spend time getting to know the men, going to the bars they frequented after work. These were the men that did the actual work in putting the bridge up, but few acknowledged their contributions. Even with the opening of the bridge, men like Robert Moses were at the head of the parade, while Othmar Ammann, who was directly involved in the project, was relegated to car eighteen