REUTERS/Mike Segar
- One of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proudest accomplishments may be undone.
- State and local lawmakers are looking at renaming the Mario Cuomo Bridge.
- Cuomo's impending resignation and multiple scandals prompted the move.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's father once said the only thing he ever wanted named after him was "a stickball court in a little alley in Queens."
Following his son's resignation announcement and the looming end of the Cuomo era in Albany, the late governor's wish may come true.
A bill has been revived in the state legislature that would change the name of the nearly $4 billion Mario Cuomo Bridge back to it its original one, according to Spectrum News.
The Tappan Zee Bridge was demolished after the completion of the Mario Cuomo Bridge, but right from the start in 2017, lawmakers in the lower Hudson Valley were not pleased with the governor naming the new span after his father.
Still referred to by locals as the Tappan Zee, the old name combined the name of the Native American tribe in the region (Tappan) with the Dutch word for sea (Zee).
REUTERS/Mike Segar
The bridge was also the subject of one of the scandals plaguing Cuomo's third term, with "structural issues" - including snapping bolts - allegedly being covered up by the private contractor in charge of its construction.
Amid Cuomo's downfall, there appears to be a renewed and bigger push for the name change, even among Democrats, according to Spectrum News.
Republicans have also been eager to bring up some of their longstanding grievances again.
"If he could have named it the Andrew Cuomo Bridge, he would have, but he couldn't, and so he settled for Mario," Assemblyman Mike Lawler, a Rockland County Republican, told Spectrum. "So I think it's really time to get the Cuomo name off the bridge and revert it back to the Tappan Zee."
"Given the governor's conduct and the scandals swirling around him, both the sexual harassment and the nursing home scandal, as well as his $5.1 million blood money book deal, I think now is the right time to change the name back," Lawler added.
State Sen. James Skoufis, an Orange County Democrat, introduced a bill alongside the one to rename the bridge that would deny Cuomo the $50,000 per year pension he's set to receive upon leaving office.
"If it's good enough for the entry level state employee, it should be good enough for the governor of New York state," Skoufis said of the bill, which is technically a constitutional amendment.
Back in 2017, Cuomo defended naming the bridge after his father.
"One day this bridge will no longer exist," Cuomo said, "and if they build a new bridge - well this bridge is supposed to last 100 years, or we get a discount - if it comes down then they'll build a new bridge and name it after somebody else."