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The renaming of New York's Triborough Bridge is so wrong...Dec 10 '09 (Updated Dec 11 '09) Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line This is the first essay on why the renaming of NYC's most famous bridges is so wrong...
This is the first of a series where I will bash New York State's political establishment and its politically correct ideology. I have chosen the Triborough Bridge in New York because the recent renaming of it after Robert F Kennedy (along with an unfair bridge toll and transit fare increase that followed soon afterwards) symbolizes everything that's wrong about state governments like New York's . It's just one of many states plagued by a political, economic, and and in some cases cultural elite that disregards the people they supposedly serve and are often detached from reality on the ground. This is the first. In July 13, 2009 the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York, acting under pressure from a $1 billion fiscal deficit, raised toll on bridges from $5.00 to $5.50. It also raised Long Island Railroad and Metro North Railroad ticket fees (it controls both commuter rail systems) by another 10%; the price of weekly and monthly MetroCards also increased significantly. This represents yet another hit on the wallets and bank accounts and salaries of the good people of New York City and Long island, who along with their counterparts in New Jersey, Connecticut, and the rest of New York State are suffering from the near-collapse of Wall Street, rising unemployment, dwindling 401k's, house mortgage problems, and the like. (It's also the bit of news that motivated me to write this essay) The state was facing a budget deficit exceeding $5 billion as of this writing; not quite as large and catastrophic as California's $25 billion deficit but still very unpleasant. Because of the fiscal problems, the MTA is also having trouble financing bridge, subway, and bus line repair, including a planned subway line through the East Side of Manhattan expected to cost billions. In short, the tolls are now $5.50 on the Brooklyn Battery and Queens Midtown Tunnels, plus the Whitestone, Throgs Neck, the RFK-Triboro Bridges on the East River. (It's also now $11.00 on the 1-way tollbooth on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge). This comes on top of a fare increase of $2.25 that the MTA imposed last June for the buses and subways. There are also proposals on the table to raise the bus and subway fare in 2011 and again in 2013 to $2.50 and perhaps beyond if the budget crisis continues. There could be $6.50 tolls on the East River Bridges by 2013. Brace yourselves. The last bridge is worth a special mention. In August 2008, the NY State Assembly (Albany rules over the MTA with an iron fist through 16 appointees) voted to rename the Triborough Bridge after Robert F Kennedy, effectively calling it the "Robert F Kennedy Bridge". The official renaming ceremony, held on November 19 2008, was a very expensive and wasteful affair, with politicians and VIP's (including Mayor Mike Bloomberg) attending in an outdoor ceremony which was then followed by a long parade of old-school cars driving slowly across it. The renaming of the Triboro after JFK's kid brother, motivated out of pure politics and liberal ideology, was first suggested in Jan 2008 by then-Governor Eliot Spitzer (D-NY) (that was just before an ‘escort' named Ashley Dupre came along and triggered a sex sting scandal that forced his resignation) . The renaming bill was formally introduced by Democrat Sheldon Silver (the State Assembly Speaker who holds enormous power in the gridlock-plagued state legislature) who forced through the bill in the midst of a growing economic crisis and rising unemployment and the serious troubles plaguing Wall Street. He got a little help from members of the Kennedy family, particularly JFK's daughter Caroline Kennedy, who at the time was seeking to replace Hilary Clinton as NY Senator when Hilary accepted President Obama's offer to become Secretary of State. Newspapers, magazines, radion and TV programs, and Internet bloggers alike soon trashed her for capitalizing on her name and having no experience for the job however, and she eventually withdrew her bid for the Senate Seat, now occupied by upstate-based centrist Democrat Kristen Gillebrand. After backwoods dealings up in Albany (one of many state government that are notorious for this practice) The new governor David Paterson, who's legally half-blind and widely seen as ineffectual, signed the bridge renaming bill into law in August 2008. Since then the road signs closest to the bridge have been replaced with new ones bearing the new name, and authorities speak of spending up to $4 million (and perhaps more) to put up new signs all over the city (the same precious money could better be used to get new pavement, a new coat of paint, and new drainage for the bridge IMO.). Ironically, most of the new signs in the eastern Bronx highways directing traffic to the bridge list "Manhattan" rather than the ridiculous new name; it gives a good idea of what the road workers think of the politicians who renamed the bridge. What's equally repulsive was the politicians' decision to fully erase the old familiar name, one that has served the city and its residents and visitors alike for 70+ years. Virtually all New York Metro residents like me know what that bridge is. For those out of state visitors who don't know the full story, the Triborough Bridge (or the Robert F Kennedy -Triborough Bridge for those gullible yuppies who want to compromise) is actually a complex of three bridges on a strategic location with a main span connecting them that sit on top of Randalls Island, which is sandwiched between Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx on the northern East River. An end product of masterful engineering at the time, it actually has two separate tollgates, one for the main span between Queens and the Bronx, and another for a second span to Manhattan, which is connected by ramps to the main span. Robert Moses had it constructed in 1939 to give residents of all three boroughs easy access to each other by car (and that's where the Bridge gets its name.) The RFK-Triboro connects Manhattan's East Harlem, the South Bronx, and the Astoria neighborhood of Queens, known for its ubiquitous Greek restaurants and vibrant café lifestyle. The first two are among the poorest neighborhoods in the city despite an economic revival that has stalled for now due to the recession that began in 2008. The Bridge is also important for Yankee fans because it's the most direct route for Yankee fans from Queens and Long Island to Yankee stadium, located in the South Bronx along the Major Deegan Expressway. Just for the record The Yankees (now the World Series champions for 2009) decided to attach the old name to their new stadium and also built it to somewhat resemble the old one (now demolished). The main MTA-affiliated agency running the bridge and others like it, ironically, is called the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority. Aside from RFK-Triboro, it maintains tolls on the Bronx-Whitestone, Throgs Neck, and Verrazano-Narrows Bridges (named after an Italian explorer who became the first European to sail into NY Harbor in 1524) and the Queens Midtown and Brooklyn Battery Tunnels, among others. Officially the Verrazano Narrows Bridge which connects Brooklyn to Staten Island across New York Bay is the TBTA's showcase. IMO, I have never gotten the idea of naming transportation infrastructure after dead celebrities, especially politicians. Personally I find it in bad taste and ubiquitous. There is a Martin Luther King Blvd in virtually every African American neighborhood, just to cite one example. But I digress. More details to come on a second essay.  |
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