Tappan Zee Bridge (2017)

So the bolts were failing and injuring workers? The solution is clear. HOT DRIVEN RIVETS. Safer. Better. Proven.

Wikipedia has been using the common name "Tappan Zee Bridge (2017-present)" since 2017. With the recent firing of Chris Cuomo from CNN, public outcry to remove the Cuomo name from the bridge has become greater. This has been debated extensively on the Talk section of the Wikipedia article, but the Tappan Zee name seems to be a settled issue there.

Structural issues have arisen on the new bridge. https://www.businessinsider.com/mario-cuomo-bridge-safety-is...

I'll skirt the whole renaming issue but the old Tappan Zee was said to be designed to last only 50 years due to material shortages during the Korean War...it lasted 61 years. I drove across it scores of times and it was often backed up even outside rush hours. The lanes were narrow and there were no breakdown lanes even though the bridge was 3 miles long. Although posted at 45 MPH, traffic often sails across the new bridge at 70MPH. It also has a very well used bike/walkway on the north side. So I doubt any motorists are missing the old bridge.

Having had the opportunity to cross the beautiful structure that this hideous looking thing replaced... Maybe the current names fits.

I was initially encouraged to hear that the Tappan Zee Bridge was being reused... Until I found out it was being fed to the fishes.

This is a chronic problem in New York State. Why call it the Triborough Bridge, a name that explains that the bridge can be used to access three of the city's boroughs when you can call it the Robert Kennedy Bridge which means nothing? The worst thing about it is that they even change the expressway signs to use these stupid names. Maybe nobody reads signs anymore with GPS, but back in the day if I was in the Bronx and wanted to get to Manhattan, seeing "Triborough Bridge" would give me more confidence that the bridge was taking me where I wanted to go than "Robert Kennedy." Same with Queensboro. The only time a bridge has ever been sensibly renamed in New York State is the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge which was previously spelled incorrectly on all signs. Then we have the Outerbridge Crossing which is named after a person but whose name by coincidence perfectly describes the southernmost bridge in New York State.

I hope they do rename it. It only makes sense to officially refer to a bridge by what the vast majority of people know it as, and I feel that a bridge's name should reflect its local geographical setting rather than whoever happened to be governor when it was built or renamed. I'm not a big fan of naming bridges after people anyway (especially after the crossing has had a colloquial name like "Tappan Zee Bridge" all its life), unless they're somebody super famous like Washington or Lincoln, or the name has become standard parlance. For instance, everyone knows the George Washington Bridge by that name, but who calls the Queensboro Bridge the Ed Koch? I'd make an exception for naming bridges after their engineers though--I think "John A. Roebling Bridge" is perfectly appropriate for the Cincinnati span. After politicians, no.

There is a growing movement following the forced resignation in disgrace of NY Governor Andrew Cuomo, to remove the Cuomo name from the bridge. A popular movement wants to officially rename this bridge to simply "Tappan Zee Bridge". Several bills have been introduced in the legislature to rename the bridge.

That's what almost everyone calls it anyway.

I don't know how anyone could think this is the most famous or beautiful bridge in New York except for the family who its named after. Looks like voters agree. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/03/nyregion/cuomo-license-pl...