New Tappan Zee Bridge: Gov. Cuomo Opens Rockland-Bound Span

TARRYTOWN, NY — Standing behind a podium with the new Mario M. Cuomo Bridge in the background, Gov. Andrew Cuomo spoke to students from Nyack and Sleepy Hollow schools. He told the young people in attendance at the opening ceremony for the first span of the new bridge Thursday that the state built it for them.

“It’s our responsibility as parents and citizens to leave this state a better state for you,” Cuomo said. “It’s our gift for you and to your children.” (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Federal, state and local officials and dignitaries were in the audience during the ceremony, along with Matilda Cuomo, Mario Cuomo’s wife and Andrew Cuomo’s mother.

Also at the ceremony was Armando “Chick” Galella, a Sleepy Hollow resident and veteran who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Galella and Gov. Cuomo christened the bridge by driving a yellow 1955 Corvette on the span, which opens to traffic Friday night, weather permitting.

Cuomo noted that Galella, who drove across the Tappan Zee Bridge in the inaugural procession on its opening day, may be the only man to drive two cars over two new bridges over the same river.

“He is stronger than the steel they used to build the Tappan Zee,” Cuomo said.

Thanking the 7,000 men and women who worked 9 million hours on the new bridge and showed the quality of union labor, Cuomo said the bridge was a symbol.

“It shows this nation and state what we haven’t been doing all along,” he said. “Our infrastructure in this nation and state, they are crumbling beneath our feet.”

Cuomo said we must ask ourselves why we are complacent and haven’t challenged ourselves.

“The future belongs to those who build it,” he said. “We are moving forward again.”

Cuomo said his father was likely smiling down on the ceremony.

“For we together have dared to dream once again,” he said. “Mario Cuomo would be proud of what we did today because we have made this place a better place.”

SEE ALSO: New Mario M. Cuomo Bridge: Details Released On Friday's Traffic Shift From Old Bridge

When the 3.1-mile twin-span is completed, there will be eight general traffic lanes, four breakdown and emergency lanes, space for a future bus rapid transit and commuter rail, a bicycle and walking path, cashless tolling and energy-efficient LED lighting.

The original Tappan Zee Bridge opened in December 1955. More than 140,000 vehicles cross it daily.

The new Rockland-bound span will partially open to four lanes overnight Friday, weather permitting.

Over the next few months, northbound/westbound traffic on I-87/I-287 will cross the Hudson River on the new bridge, with southbound/eastbound drivers using the old bridge.

The Thruway Authority said later this fall, the new bridge will completely replace the old bridge when four lanes of Westchester-bound traffic are also shifted onto the first span.

The Mario M. Cuomo Bridge will be completed on time at or below the budgeted cost of $3.98 billion.

The New York State Thruway Authority is the owner of the project to replace the Tappan Zee Bridge; Tappan Zee Constructors is the consortium designing and building the new bridge.

Photo captions: Opening ceremony of the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, Aug. 24, 2017. Photos by Jillian Hanlon.