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Does The New NY State License Plate Kind Of Suck Or What?
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Sep 6, 2019
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Governor Cuomo
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Sep 6, 2019
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The next license plate for the state of New York has officially been announced, capping off a heated public contest marked by allegations of vote-rigging with a final result that, well, kind of sucks, right?
The winning choice, which captured nearly 50 percent of the vote, will feature Niagara Falls, the Statute of Liberty, the Lower Manhattan skyline and the Montauk Lighthouse, which is for some reason attached to Manhattan (wouldn't that be nice!?). Like four of the five options, the color scheme is blue and white and yellow, and includes the state motto: Excelsior.
A fifth possibility had included the newly-renamed Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, prompting accusations that Governor Andrew Cuomo had engineered the contest to ensure that the four similar choices would split the vote, thus catapulting the patriarchal bridge to victory. Only 9.7 percent of voters ended up choosing that option.
That result should "put to rest the dumb dumb dumb conspiracies," according to the governor's spokesperson, though is maybe just proof that New York residents don't really feel a strong connection to Cuomo's dad's bridge.
In any case, not everyone is thrilled with the results. A brief survey of the office found only nominal support for the winning plate, and plenty of righteous outrage.
"This is a goddam scandal, it looks like Canada," muttered Gothamist editor Christopher Robbins, a self-described Torch Man. "We might as well have chosen a friggin' Duane Reade." (Robbins, it should be noted, did not actually vote.)
Others took exception to the plate's lettering. "The font is freaking me out — something about the way the 'L' and the 'S' line up (or don't) is troubling," said WNYC Planning Editor Kate Hinds.
After considering it for a bit, Hinds added that plates should only be two colors, not three, or else risk appearing "graphically jumbled."
But Gothamist Editorial Director Jen Carlson came to the plate's defense, arguing that this is probably the only license plate with programmatic architecture (the Statue of Liberty). "I don't find it offensive," she added. "What's not to like?"
So there you have it, a new license plate that drivers will be forced to shell out $25 for whenever their current plates expire (starting next spring), which the rest of us will have to look at for god knows how long.
Me? I would've gone with rat bucket.
Is it too late?
Ben Yakas/Gothamist
Tagged
governor cuomo
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license plates
Jake Offenhartz
Jake Offenhartz is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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