It's official: Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg signed a bill adding "Ed Koch" in front of "Queensboro Bridge." And as expected, there was much rambling and patting-on-the-back in honor of this momentous pretty much meaningless event. “Ed Koch was the bridge that brought New York City back from the brink of bankruptcy to financial solvency,” said Council Speaker Christine Quinn. “And many New Yorkers feel very close to him for that reason. The City Council is proud to pay tribute to Mayor Koch and his decades of public service with this timeless honor." Koch even had some fightin' words for the George Washington bridge!
Koch said of "his" bridge, "This is probably the very best structure that I could be identified with because it's in my [former congressional] district, it's a workhorse bridge. It's a bridge that everybody loves. It doesn't have the inspiring heights of the George Washington Bridge—it's better than the George Washington Bridge because it works." We've never known the GW bridge not to function, but sure, whatever helps you sleep at night. Speaking of working, two cars have fatally crashed while coming off the Queensboro Bridge after City Council voted on the name change.
Mayor Bloomberg said of the naming, "It’s only appropriate that we name something iconic, something great after Mayor Koch and his work in literally saving this bridge and the rest of the city’s bridges is symbolic of his overall legacy of bringing our city back and building for the future." So everyone can now resume calling it the Queensboro bridge, right? And then whining when our kids call it the Koch bridge? Because back in our day...
