Governor Under Attack After Cuomo Bridge Lane Shift Delayed
Elected officials from both major parties engaged in a war of words last weekend following Saturday’s postponement for the opening of the eastbound lanes of the new Mario M. Cuomo Bridge.
The New York State Thruway Authority announced late Friday that a portion of the remaining old Tappan Zee Bridge, which is being disassembled, became destabilized and was creating a potentially dangerous situation. Therefore, it decided to hold off on opening the eastbound side to traffic
By late Sunday the Thruway Authority was informed by the contractor, Tappan Zee Constructors, LLC, that the eastbound lanes can be opened to traffic sometime Tuesday evening, weather permitting.
The turn of events and the decision to delay the opening of the lanes occurred hours after Gov. Andrew Cuomo held a special ribbon-cutting ceremony with Hillary Clinton and other dignitaries to celebrate the next phase of the project.
However, Cuomo’s political opponents were quick to seize on the opportunity calling for independent investigations.
Marc Molinaro, the Dutchess County executive who is the Republican nominee for governor, urged the National Transportation Safety Board to launch an investigation and on Saturday called the development “shocking.”
Both Molinaro and Cuomo’s opponent in Thursday’s Democratic primary, Cynthia Nixon, alleged that the timeline to open the eastbound lanes may have been moved up to benefit the governor.
“Our campaign is aware of at least two whistleblowers who have knowledge of the construction of the new bridge – and the deconstruction of the old one that have raised concerns regarding the construction timeline for the bridge,” Molinaro said. “On the basis of their information, we believe the schedule was rushed and safety concerns set aside because Andrew Cuomo wanted the bridge he named after his father open before this Thursday’s Democratic primary.”
Nixon, who held a press conference Sunday morning in Tarrytown, also rushed to criticize Cuomo.
“It raises real questions about whether the bridge span opening was accelerated to aide the governor’s re-election campaign,” Nixon said.
The Thruway Authority and County Executive George Latimer warned candidates and elected officials against politicizing a serious issue, one that Cuomo was quoted as saying was a “bizarre coincidence,” according to one published report.
“This is not the time for anyone to attempt to score political points using this issue; it is a time where we cooperate to safely resolve this situation,” Latimer said in a statement on Sunday. “As we prepare to commemorate the sacrifices made on 9/11, we do well to remember the importance of unity and cooperation instead of continuous political conflict.”
The flap over last weekend’s engineering concerns overshadowed complaints made by members of the volunteer group Save Our Tappan Zee, Inc. last Friday. The group has been protesting the name change and collected about 111,000 names earlier this year on a petition to retain the name Tappan Zee.
On Friday, signage on parkways in the area with approaches to the bridge were changed from the Tappan Zee Bridge to the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge.
“Although the timing of Friday’s announcement ostensibly coincided with the opening of the second span to traffic, it is politically suspect, coming less than a week before the Democratic gubernatorial primary,” a statement issued Friday by Save Our Tappan Zee, Inc. “Like the name change itself – which occurred without citizen input in the dead of night – it was a sneak attack, with no advance notice to the public, and less than 24 hours notice to the news media. It was a media event for the Cuomo family with a $4B taxpayer-financed backdrop.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/