Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Tappan Zee Bridge

The Incredible Disappearing Stakeholder Meeting for Cuomo’s Tappan Zee

By Noah Kazis | Feb 8, 2012 | 1 Comment

Time was, the public outreach for the new Tappan Zee Bridge included five different Stakeholders’ Advisory Working Groups. Each let interested parties dig deeper into issues like the environmental impact of the bridge or how the new transit service might affect development. Now, however, Governor Andrew Cuomo has “fast-tracked” the construction of a replacement Tappan […]

Caption Contest: Tappan Zee Outreach Gone Fishin’

By Noah Kazis | Jan 27, 2012 | 14 Comments

Until last fall, the state’s planning for a new Tappan Zee Bridge was a model of public outreach. It included over 280 public meetings and one outreach center open full-time on each side of the bridge. Under Governor Andrew Cuomo, however, the project has been “fast-tracked.” Transit was axed from the bridge and the project […]

Cuomo Admin Denies Requests for Information on Tappan Zee Financing

By Noah Kazis | Jan 27, 2012 | 4 Comments

How does Andrew Cuomo plan to pay for the new Tappan Zee Bridge? The state isn’t saying — and it isn’t letting the public weigh in, either. The Cuomo administration won’t release its financial plan for the bridge until April or May, according to a report in the Journal News. That’s just months before construction […]

Cost of Tappan Zee Mega-Bridge Could Cause Tolls to Triple

By Charles Komanoff | Jan 26, 2012 | 16 Comments

“Rate shock” was the name given to the electricity industry’s financial crisis in the 1970s and 1980s, when utility company finances buckled under the weight of escalating nuclear power costs. Not only were the costs of the nukes spiraling out of control, but the electricity rate hikes required to pay for them caused energy use […]

Tappan Zee Plans Flunk New York’s Smart Growth Test

By Noah Kazis | Jan 25, 2012 | 6 Comments

The Cuomo administration’s plan for an extra-wide, transit-free Tappan Zee Bridge is exactly the kind of project that New York state’s smart growth law is supposed to prevent. Passed in 2010 under David Paterson’s administration, the Smart Growth Public Infrastructure Policy Act requires any state infrastructure project to meet 10 smart growth criteria. Under the […]

Cuomo Primed to Splurge on Jumbo-Sized Tappan Zee With Extra Lanes

By Noah Kazis | Jan 25, 2012 | 17 Comments

The Cuomo administration’s plan for the new Tappan Zee Bridge, described in yesterday’s draft environmental impact statement, is more than a missed opportunity to provide New Yorkers with faster and greener commutes using transit. It also foreshadows a potential environmental disaster, as the state prepares to spend huge sums on a span that can funnel […]

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