Giovanni da Verrazzano (1485 – 1528) was a Florentine explorer of North America. He is known for being the first European since the Norse colonization of the Americas around 1000 to explore the east coast of North America between South and North Carolina and Newfoundland, including New York Harbor and Narragansett Bay in 1524. The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is named for him. 