GOPers furious over bid to rename Tappan Zee bridge after Mario Cuomo
State Republicans are furious over the out-of-the-blue bid to rename the new Tappan Zee Bridge after Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s dad, the late Gov. Mario Cuomo — a last-minute maneuver that came just three hours before the close of the state Legislature’s 2017 session.
“It was cloak-and-dagger Albany,” said Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino. “The public had zero input.”
The name of the current span, officially the Governor Malcolm Wilson Tappan Zee Bridge for the late Republican pol, would be cast aside for the replacement bridge.
“I think it’s very self-serving and very disrespectful to the Wilson family who come from Westchester [at one end of the bridge]. Mario Cuomo had nothing to do with the bridge,” Astorino said. “He comes from Queens.”
State Republican Chairman Ed Cox said Andrew is using his father’s name to tout his own legacy.
“It’s all about him, his politics and his personal ambition, not about him doing anything the right way,” Cox said. “He wants to put the Cuomo name on that bridge to make clear that it’s his accomplishment. Really it’s a bipartisan accomplishment.”
Despite GOP opposition, the measure passed the Republican-led Senate unanimously, but hadn’t been taken up by the Democratic-run state Assembly even though Mario Cuomo is a Democratic icon.
Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan’ (R-LI) declined to comment.
Cuomo said the idea arose at a political breakfast this week, with retiring Assemblyman Herman “Denny” Farrell (D-Manhattan) suggesting it.
republicsns decide that cuomo can no longer pick and choose one easter sundsy over the others
vuomo loves homos their votes snd their monry but nu const srt 1 sec 3 protects homos and some of them widh to bet out of state tracks running on roman catholic easter sunday
Stop scratching on holidays
republicsns decide that cuomo can no longer pick and choose one easter sundsy over the others
vuomo loves homos their votes snd their monry but nu const srt 1 sec 3 protects homos and some of them widh to bet out of state tracks running on roman catholic easter sunday
Claude Solnik
Long Island Business News
2150 Smithtown Ave.
Ronkonkoma, NY 11779-7348
Home > LI Confidential > Stop scratching on holidays
Stop scratching on holidays
Published: June 1, 2012
Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money.
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