New Push To Rename Cuomo Bridge With ‘Disgraceful Comeback Looming’

With an Andrew Cuomo political comeback looming, many New York lawmakers want to take Cuomo's name off a local bridge.

A number of New York lawmakers gathered in Albany on Tuesday to once again push to rename the Mario Cuomo Bridge.

"Earlier today, I joined a bipartisan coalition of state legislators to push for my bill (A6594) which would restore the name of the Tappan Zee Bridge and remove the Cuomo family name from it," Rockland County Assemblyman Mike Lawler, 97th Assembly District, wrote on Facebook.

Lawler, a lifelong Rockland County resident, believes Andrew Cuomo gets unfair name recognition from the bridge.

"With Andrew Cuomo's disgraceful attempt at a political comeback looming large, now is the time to act," Lawler said.

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned last summer following sexual harassment allegations. Recently he has hinted about making a political comeback.

In 2017, Andrew Cuomo pushed to rename the bridge to honor his late father, Mario M. Cuomo.

The bridge was named the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge.

In a recent legislative survey, over 90 percent of respondents said they support Lawler's bill to restore the Tappan Zee Bridge name, according to Lawler.

"I will continue to fight for this bill's passage and encourage all of my colleagues and Governor Hochul to get on board!" he adds.

Lawler believes the name change will "better reflect the history of our region. "

Many local residents were upset when Tappan Zee was removed from the bridge's name. Tappan is the name of a Native-American sub-tribe who occupied the area and Zee is Dutch for sea, referring to the early Dutch settlers.

In November 2021, Assemblymember Thomas J. Abinanti, Assembly District 92, introduced a bill to rename the bridge.

The Westchester County politician is willing to comprise with the name change. His bill will allow for Cuomo to stay in the bridge's name, but also add Tappan Zee to the name.

The bill renames the "Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge," the "Governor Mario M. Cuomo Tappan Zee Bridge." It would also rename the Welcome Center at the Westchester Landing for the bridge the, "Governor Malcolm Wilson Welcome Center."

As of Jan. 05, the bill was "Referred To Transportation."

Nearly 261,500 have signed a change.org petition to return the name of the bridge to the "Tappan Zee Bridge."