New York State, and our leaders in Albany, have many challenges in the weeks ahead, most notable is the passage of a State budget. Included in every NY State budget are priorities that are jammed into the budget, forcing State Senators and Assembly members to “take it or leave it” and having to make a choice of voting yes or no on the budget, but on other items as well. Governor Kathy Hochul wants to ban Menthol Cigarettes and all flavored tobacco products in New York State. She also wants some type of criminal justice reform, and wants to increase the number of Charter Schools permitted in New York City.
All of these issues are important to Westchester Residents. But one issue that is of NO importance to the people of Westchester is the name of the Mario Cuomo Bridge, formerly known as the Tappan Zee Bridge. Governor Hochul and several state legislators have threatened to change the name back to the TZ bridge, apparently as punishment to former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who forced through the renaming late one night while he was Governor.
A. Cuomo was forced to resign in 2021 for sexually inappropriate comments to staff and state employees. But nobody cares about the name of the bridge that connects Westchester to Rockland anymore. Our newspaper, like others, did have an initial interest when A. Cuomo proposed it. But now it is nothing more than grandstanding and a waste of time. So why are we writing about such an insignificant event? To call out our state delegation from Westchester, not to engage in this subject or topic.
We agree with our State Senator, and Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, who recently commented that the continued obsession with the vote for NYS Chief Judge LaSalle was a “distraction” that should end so that the Senate could focus on the Governor’s proposed $227 Billion state budget. Hochul nominated LaSalle to be the next Chief Judge of NY, but lost a confirmation vote, and it wasn’t close. Now its time to move on.
Similarly, we have already debated the name of the Cuomo bridge. Regardless of your opinion of Andrew Cuomo, Mario Cuomo served our state with honor and without scandal. Keep the name and let’s move on, and if we hear about any of our Westchester State Senators or Assembly members wasting our time with this discussion, we will call them out. If anything, we are more concerned about the toll that is charged for crossing the bridge than its name.
And for those who wish to punish Andrew Cuomo, in a pre-emptive attempt to keep him from making a political comeback, that dog won’t hunt. It’s easy to see that the former Governor is trying to find a way back into politics, and on a ballot someday.
