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Peter Vallone Wants To Un-Ed Koch The Queensboro Bride
By
Jen Chung
Published Jul 14, 2013
Modified Jul 14, 2013
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NYC Mayor's Office
By
Jen Chung
Published Jul 14, 2013
Modified Jul 14, 2013
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Now that former mayor Ed Koch is dead, why not remove his name from the Queensboro Bridge? That's what City Councilman Peter Vallone wants to do!
To be fair, when the Bloomberg administration proposed it in late 2010, Vallone hated the idea from the start, saying, "Mayor Ed Koch is truly a great man and deserving of an honor like this, but renaming a landmark so closely linked to our borough’s culture and history is not appropriate. The city would not rename the Brooklyn Bridge and the Queensboro Bridge should be treated equally."
Vallone voted against the measure (as did Charles Barron, who suggested Rikers Island be named after Koch instead, since so many young black went there due to his policies), but the City Council voted 38-12 to rename the structure. Since then, he's been deeply critical of the bridge. And let's face it: Does anyone really call it the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge anyway?
Now Vallone tells the Post, "Never in a million years would they think to rename the Brooklyn or Manhattan Bridges. But for some reason, it was OK to slap Queens around," vowing, "I’m not going to rest until it’s rectified, until we get our bridge back." It's also a dangerous bridge!
He thinks naming the Municipal Building after Koch would be more fitting, "My problem is not with Ed Koch. My problem is with taking a bridge from the people of Queens."
Tagged
ed koch
peter vallone
queens
queensboro bridge
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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