UPDATE (SUMMER 2021):
SOME GREAT NEWS! You have all probably heard by now that there are brand new bills now in both the Assembly and the Senate to reverse the re-naming of the current Mario M. Cuomo Bridge and to bring back the TAPPAN ZEE name. Although legislative action won't be taken until after January, right now is the crucial time we need to gather support and build momentum. WHAT TO DO?
1. CALL YOUR REPS: Call them in both the NY assembly and also the senate and ask them to support restoring the Tappan Zee name.
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2. CALL THE RULES COMMITTEE: This is really important. Call members of the rules committees in both the senate and the assembly and ask them to support and co-sponsor the bill that restores the Tappan Zee name. In order to advance out of committee, a bill must have as many co-sponsors from that committee as possible, and right now, we don't have the co-sponsors we need.
Click here to make it easy for you:
Senate: https://www.nysenate.gov/senators-committees (choose Rules Committee from dropdown)
Assembly: https://nyassembly.gov/comm/?id=33 (should bring you to the Rules Comm page)
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3. CALL OTHER REPS: Don't stop at just calling your reps. Call any whose district is in or near lower New York or the Hudson Valley. Ask for their support.
4. HELP SPREAD THE WORD: Please share this Change.org petition. In 2017, our petition had 110,000 signers. We are now up to 176,000+ and the numbers continue to climb! We expect to surpass 200,000 in the next few days based on some intelligence we have received. Don't forget to ask friends and family to call their representatives too.
IF YOU ARE UNSURE WHAT TO SAY, here are some points you can make:
• Ask them to support the bill that will restore the Tappan Zee name to the bridge. Also, ask them to consider co-sponsoring the bill
• Remind them that this is not partisan. The trend of politicians - republicans or democrats - naming public structures after themselves or their family members must not be normalized, and indeed must stop. The Tappan Zee name is historical and we want it back.
• Changing the name behind closed doors without public input is just one more example of bad behavior by Gov. Cuomo that needs to be reversed.
Momentum is with us but if we wait, the effort will stall. So please, make the phone calls, spread the word, share the petition, and ask others to make calls too.
Thanks, All!
-Monroe Mann and the Save Our Tappan Zee Team