Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge (credit: Mike Xirinachs / WCBS 880)
Reporting Mike Xirinachs
NEW YORK (CBS 2 / WCBS 880/ 1010 WINS) – You might not be taking the Queensboro Bridge to work anymore.
WCBS 880′s Mike Xirinachs with reaction from Ed Koch
Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch is seen at Gracie Mansion - New York, NY - Jun 17, 2010 - Photo: Donald Bowers/Getty Images for Historic House Trust of New York City
The Bloomberg Administration wants to rename the 101-year-old span over the East River after former Mayor Ed Koch.
“This is a workhorse bridge and it’s rugged,” Koch told 1010 WINS. “It’s like me — I’m rugged and I’m a workhorse so I’m delighted.”
Koch said he was “flabbergasted” and “delighted” when he heard the bridge, which runs from 59th Street in Manhattan to Long Island City, Queens, may be named after him.
The name change requires approval by the City Council and Speaker Christine Quinn told the New York Times that she supports it.
“The Queensboro Bridge is in the heart of my district,” Koch said. ”I identify with the bridge.”
The Brooklyn Battery Tunnel will also get a new name. State lawmakers voted Tuesday to rename it after former Governor Hugh Carey.
“Hugh Carey saved the city and the state from default and he’s the greatest governor, in my judgment, of the modern era ,” Koch said.
The city plans to raise money privately to pay for road signs with the new names. The renaming of the Triborough Bridge, which became the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, cost the city and state nearly $4 million for new signs.
