NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — A New York State lawmaker on Friday introduced a bill to bring back the Tappan Zee Bridge.
Assembly member Tom Abinanti, a Democrat who represents Greenburgh and Mt. Pleasant, said unlike others, he does not want to strip Gov. Mario M.
Cuomo’s name from the bridge, he simply wants to rework the name.
“Tappan Zee symbolizes the history and heritage of the area,” he said.
The first part of Abinanti’s bill would rename the bridge connecting Westchester and Rockland counties the “Governor Mario M. Cuomo Tappan Zee Bridge.”
The second part of the bill would also name the welcome center at the Westchester landing of the bridge the “Governor Malcom Wilson Welcome Center.”
Abinanti noted that since former Gov. Andrew Cuomo “prevailed upon the Legislature to name the bridges after Governor Mario Cuomo,” New Yorkers have voiced opposition to eliminating “Tappan Zee.”
“Tappan is the name of a Native American sub-tribe of the Delaware/Lenni Lenape who occupied the area and Zee is Dutch for sea referring to the early Dutch settlers,” Abinanti said in a release.
The state lawmaker added that he came up with the idea to combine the bridge’s new and old names from the older Cuomo.
“When former Governor Mario Cuomo dedicated the former bridge to the honor of former Governor Malcolm Wilson, he kept the important local reference and renamed the bridge the ‘Governor Malcolm Wilson Tappan Zee Bridge,’” he said.
He now hopes his bill can satisfy all New Yorkers who would like to see the Tappan Zee name returned.
“It’s time that we all came together and reached a compromise,” said Abinanti. “Let’s stop the war over the name, it’s time to heal.”
Other lawmakers had previously introduced bills to completely remove the Cuomo name from the bridge, but those attempts have so far been unsuccessful.
Abinanti’s bill marks the first attempt to rename the bridge since Gov. Andrew Cuomo left office in August 2021, following multiple allegations of sexual misconduct from several different women.
Related
Related
