A WVOX Commentary by William O’Shaughnessy
It’s time we weighed in on the misguided effort to try to re-name the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge. We are not Johnny-come-lately to the controversy.
Some many years ago, I received a call from then Governor Mario Cuomo who said, “We want to name something for your friend Malcolm Wilson. My people have suggested a vast track in the Adirondacks…or the Liberty Scholarships…which were begun under his stewardship.”
At that moment, the call was joined by my former wife Nancy Curry, who said, “I think you should name something for Governor Wilson that you can ‘reach out and touch’ …like a bridge.” Thus was born (for a short time) the idea for the Malcolm Wilson Tappan Zee Bridge.
We were there at the dedication (when they unveiled the huge sign that mis-spelled the name of The Malcom Wilson Bridge-they left out the ‘L’ in Malcolm).
After the Governor’s action, it had to be approved by legislatures in Rockland and Westchester.
Malcolm Wilson was an articulate and brilliant man who served in New York State government longer than anyone as an Assemblyman, Lieutenant Governor and Governor. He was also the greatest orator Fordham ever graduated. Mario Cuomo once observed “Malcolm would beat you up in English…and then finish you off in Latin!”
So we applaud the suggestion to name a “Welcome Center” on the Westchester side of the bridge as suggested by Mr. Abinanti. But Assemblyman Tom Abinanti and Assemblyman Mike Lawler, his Assembly cohort from Rockland, are ill-advised to try to change the name of the Mario Cuomo Bridge, which many view as yet another attempt to pile on his son and heir, former Governor Andrew Cuomo.
The bridge, which was appropriately named after a great and good man that the Boston Globe called ‘the great philosopher-statesman of the American nation,” should not be messed with by vindictive and opportunistic politicians. Thus, the bridge that replaced the aging Tappan Bridge span should remain the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge as it is now widely known.
And we should also name something significant and meaningful for Governor Malcolm Wilson.
