Friday's Verrazano Bridge Protesters Join a Long History of Pro-Bike Activism

New York City's Metropolitan Transit Authority celebrated the 50th birthday of the Verrazano Bridge Friday, the iconic 4,260-foot suspension bridge that connects the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn. Citing ongoing battles with the MTA over toll hikes, both borough presidents refused to show up to the ceremony. Here's what did: an ironworker who helped build the bridge, retired bridge and tunnel cops who helped guard it, a 50-gun salute, a fire boat display, and a plane trailing a 200-foot-long banner that read: "50 YRS & NO BIKE/PED PATHS? OPEN THE VERRAZANO NOW!"

The "photobomb" is the work of activist group Right of Way, which advocates for pedestrian and cyclist rights. The group argues that the bridge's lack of alternative transportation symbolizes a larger city failure to permit its growing bicycle culture penetrate into the outer boroughs.