Local Petition Seeks Return Of Tappan Zee Bridge Name

I don't know about you, but the words 'Governor Mario Cuomo Bridge' have never come out of my face, always and forever I've known and will call this the Tappan Zee Bridge. Good news, a renewed push to reclaim the former name has begun.

According to nypost.com, a petition with over 1,000 signatures has been submitted to the New York State Senate and Assembly urging lawmakers to change the name from Governor Mario Cuomo Bridge back to the Tappan Zee Bridge. Governor Andrew Cuomo made the change back in 2017 to recognize his father, and more than 100,000 people signed a petition at the time in protest.

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The original Tappan Zee Bridge opened to the public in 1955, and it was a Godsend for Rockland and Westchester County residents especially, but much more so for the general public who didn't have to travel 10 miles South into NYC metro. Most of us have spent hours gazing down at the Hudson waiting to get through the toll plazas back into Westchester, and that was what the 2012-2017 major rebuild aimed to address. It's a 3.1-mile-long bridge with dedicated pedestrian and bicycle paths now, but most never accepted the name change.

I remember one time we were coming back from Philly and got stuck near the Palisades Mall area all the way to the toll plaza, and it took something like three hours to get through. The worst part was it was a 97-degree day, and add in the overwhelming exhaust fumes, whew, it was a long afternoon. Keep it up petitioners, bring it back.