In the latest humiliation for Andrew Cuomo, an effort is gaining steam that would undo his decision to christen the reconstructed Tappan Zee Bridge after his late father.
A petition launched Nov. 23 — just weeks after Cuomo was soundly defeated in the New York City mayoral race — seeks to return the historic “Tappan Zee Bridge” moniker to the heavily-trafficked span, which runs 1,200 feet over the Hudson River, connecting Rockland and Westchester counties.
“For nearly six decades, New Yorkers knew this critical Hudson River crossing by its traditional name: Tappan Zee — a name that honored both the Indigenous Tappan people of the region and the Dutch heritage of early New York settlement (‘zee’ meaning sea),” reads the petition.
It claims then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s vain 2017 move to rename the span “bypassed longstanding naming norms and erased a meaningful part of the region’s cultural and linguistic history.”
Residents on both sides of the bridge refused to recognize the bridge’s replacement name. Christopher Sadowski
Cuomo’s decision was met with vocal opposition by residents in Nyack and Tarrytown, with more than 100,000 people signing a petition at the time to keep the original name of the bridge, which first opened in 1955.
“The renaming was pushed through during a moment of concentrated political influence and has remained unpopular with residents ever since,” the petition adds. “Today, public sentiment has only grown clearer: New Yorkers want the original name back.”
The petition, with over 1,000 signatures, requests the state Senate and Assembly introduce new legislation to change the name. Gov. Hochul would have to sign off on the bill.
Ex Gov. Andrew Cuomo poses next to the bridge that now bears his father’s name. Richard Harbus
“Restoring the historic name is a nonpartisan correction, not a political statement,” the petition reads. “Bridges and place names form part of a community’s shared identity. Changing such a significant name for political reasons sets a poor precedent.”
The sign that used to greet drivers as they approached the span. NY Post/Robert Kalfus
The petition claims renaming the bridge would “cost the state virtually nothing” and “reflect the will of the residents who use the bridge daily” while restoring “an important Indigenous and regional name.”
Despite the 2017 renaming, people continue to refer to the span as the Tappan Zee Bridge.
After Cuomo left office in 2021, Westchester politicians campaigned on restoring the bridge’s original name.
The bridge replacement project was completed in 2018. Paul Martinka
“Everyone in the Hudson Valley still calls the bridge the Tappan Zee for a reason,” state Sen. James Skoufis (D-Woodbury) told The Post in 2023. “It’s the rightful name.”
Skoufis was the main sponsor of a bill that same year that sought to restore the Tappan Zee name. However, the GOP-led effort went nowhere in the Democratic-dominated state Legislature.