The March 6th USPS Postal Bulletin indicates that this issue will be released March 4, with Brooklyn, NY as its first-day location.
From my article from the October press preview:
The Priority Mail design is a digital image of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York City. Artist Dan Cosgrove created the picture looking up at the bridge, at the time right before sunset, which he called the most interesting time: still fully lit but with the great colors of sunset. This will be issued in the spring.
From the USPS on December 13th:
Majestic, graceful, powerful — the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is a breathtaking sight visible from vantage points in all five of New York City’s boroughs. The bridge celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2014, which the U.S. Postal Service commemorates with this new Priority Mail stamp.
The digital illustration on the stamp captures the grandeur of the Verrazano, not only showing its sheer size and scale, but also giving a sense of the sweeping curve of the double-decker roadway. The artist chose to showcase the bridge at twilight, which offers an interesting play of light and shadow.
Named for explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, the first European to enter New York Bay, the bridge spans the Narrows, the strait dividing Upper and Lower New York Bay, and connects Brooklyn and Staten Island. The bridge’s two massive towers support four enormous cables that each weighs more than 9,000 tons. From each cable hang 262 suspender ropes that hold up the double-decker roadway. Each deck carries six lanes of traffic.
The bridge’s center span is 4,260 feet long—so long that its two monumental towers, soaring 690 feet into the sky, are spaced one-and-five-eighths inches farther apart at their tops than at their bases to compensate for the curvature of the earth.
At time of the opening of the upper deck on November 21, 1964, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world. (The lower deck opened five years later.)
Designed by art director Phil Jordan, the stamp features a digital illustration created by Dan Cosgrove.
From the March 6th Postal Bulletin:
Stamp Announcement 14:17: $5.60 Verrazano-Narrows Bridge (116300)
©2014 USPS
On March 4, 2014, in Brooklyn, New York, the U.S. Postal Service will issue the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge $5.60 Priority Mail stamp, one design in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 10 stamps (Item 116300).
The stamp will go on sale nationwide March 4, 2014.
With this 2014 Priority Mail stamp, the U.S. Postal Service commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. Spanning New York Bay at the Narrows, the bridge connects Brooklyn and Staten Island. It can be seen from vantage points in all five of New York City’s boroughs. The artwork features a colorful, digital illustration of the bridge at twilight. Designed by art director Phil Jordan, the stamp showcases the work of illustrator Dan Cosgrove.
Distribution: Item 116300, $5.60 Verrazano-Narrows Bridge Priority Mail Stamp PSA Pane of 10 Stamps
How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark:
Customers have 60 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office, at The Postal Store website at www.usps.com/shop, or by calling 800-STAMP-24. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
Retail Manager
USPS -Triboro District
1050 Forbell Street
Brooklyn, NY 11256-2015
After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark up to a quantity of 50. For more than 50, customers have to pay five cents each. All orders must be postmarked by May 3, 2014.
Philatelic Products
There are three philatelic products available for this stamp issue:
• 116316*, First-Day Cover, $6.04.
• 116321*, Digital Color Postmark, $6.75.
• 116331*, Stamp Deck Card, $0.95.
Technical Specifications:
Issue: Verrazano-Narrows Bridge Stamp
Item Number: 116300
Denomination & Type of Issue: Priority Mail Rate
Format: Pane of 10 (1 design)
Series:
Issue Date & City: March 4, 2014, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Designer: Phil Jordan
Art Director: Phil Jordan
Typographer: Phil Jordan
Artist: Dan Cosgrove
Engraver:
Modeler: Joseph Sheeran
Manufacturing Process: Offset Micoprint
Printer: Ashton Potter
Printed at: Williamsville, NY
Press Type: Vari-size security press
Stamps per Pane: 10
Print Quantity: 10 million stamps
Paper Type: Nonphosphored Type III
Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive
Processed at: Aston Potter, Williamsville, NY
Colors: Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Back Black
Stamp Orientation: Horizontal
Image Area (w x h): 1.42 x 1.09 in./36.07 x 27.56 mm
Overall Size (w x h): 1.56 x 1.22 in./39.62 x 31.12 mm
Full Pane Size (w x h): 4.12 x 7.12 in./104.65 x 180.85 mm
Plate Size: 120 stamps per revolution
Plate Numbers: “P” followed by four (4) single digits
Marginal Markings:
Front: Plate numbers in two corners of pane
Back: © 2013 USPS • Three USPS logos • Plate position diagram • Barcode (116300 in upper right and lower left corners of pane • Promotional text • Proprietary Notice
