Giovanni e Verrazzano (c. 1485 – c. 1528) was an Italian explorer of North America, in the service of the French crown. He is renowned as the first European to explore the Atlantic coast of North America between South Carolina and Newfoundland in 1539, including New York Harbor where the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is named in his honor, and Narragansett Bay, where the Jamestown-Verrazano Bridge is located.