Powerful sponsor comes up with new bill to change name of Gov. Mario Cuomo Bridge back to Tappan Zee
NEW YORK -- It's a question that has been raised in Albany for the last three years: will the name "Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge" finally be relegated to the dustbin of history?
CBS2 has learned a bill to change the name back to "Tappan Zee Bridge" has a new and powerful sponsor.
READ MORE: Fight to rename Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge back to Tappan Zee moves forward in Albany
When Andrew Cuomo drove across the new Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge in FDR's 1932 Packard in 2018, he probably thought his vast power and steamroller personality would be enough to overcome deep-seated opposition from members of the local community to erasing the name Tappan Zee.
He was wrong.
"Many people in the Hudson Valley and beyond are very upset that the name in the middle of the night was swapped over to the Mario Cuomo Bridge," said state Sen. James Skoufis of Newburgh.
Enter Skoufis, the latest lawmaker to attempt to push Mario Cuomo off his bridge. Unlike the others, Skoufis is a Democrat.
"I'm a Democrat. I'm in the majority. I think it presents a new opportunity to perhaps bring this bill to the floor and finally get a vote on it," Skoufis said.
Skoufis does think that Mario Cuomo deserves to have a bridge named after him, just not this bridge.
"Let's find some bridge, let's find some tunnel, let's find some highway that doesn't already have some dedication and name it after Mario Cuomo," Skoufis said.
He also has a plan to get his bill passed.
"We can get it done possibly in what we call an omnibus bill, which is, by the way, how this name got done in the first place. It was tucked into a much larger bill with a bazillion other things," Skoufis said.
Area residents also chimed in.
"Take the name off, absolutely," one area resident said.
"It will always be the Tappan Zee. I was a senior in high school when the original bridge was built and opened, and I went across on the first day," Mary Conklin said.
"I think they should just leave it," another person said.
"I think it's great to call it the Tappan Zee Bridge because that's what it is. I think people will probably call it that no matter what," another person added.
FLASHBACK: Poll: Should the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge be renamed Tappan Zee, or something else?
If the bill passes, will Gov. Kathy Hochul sign it?
"First of all, Mario Cuomo was an extraordinary governor. But if the bill passes, and I know there's a lot of conversation after the bill passes the Legislature, I would certainly look at anything that passes at the time, but it is too premature," Hochul said.
A spokesman for the former governor declined to comment.
