July 14, 2013 By Christian Murray
City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. wants Ed Koch’s name to be taken off the Queensboro Bridge.
Vallone told the New York Post that he is drafting legislation to restore the crossing’s historic moniker and to name Manhattan’s Municipal Building after Koch instead.
The bridge was renamed the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge in 2011 to coincide with his 86th birthday.
Vallone opposed the renaming at the time, claiming that the bridge was not the appropriate venue to honor him. He was an outspoken critic of the proposal from the get-go.
“Mayor Ed Koch is truly a great man and deserving of an honor like this, but renaming a landmark so closely linked to our borough’s culture and history is not appropriate,” Vallone said at the time. “The city would not rename the Brooklyn Bridge and the Queensboro Bridge should be treated equally.”
Vallone voted against the measure but the City Council, with the strong backing of Speaker Christine Quinn, voted 38-12 to rename it.
Vallone told the New York Post today: “Never in a million years would they think to rename the Brooklyn or Manhattan Bridges. But for some reason, it was OK to slap Queens around.”
Vallone’s move is likely to generate some support in Western Queens.
For instance, Community Board 2, which represents Sunnyside, Woodside and Long Island City, passed a unanimous resolution in April 2011 that asked Mayor Michael Bloomberg not to sign the bill that renamed the bridge into law. The nearly 40 member community board sent a letter directly to the Mayor expressing its outrage about the renaming.
Several members of the Sunnyside Chamber of Commerce also called on the New York City Council to repeal the law shortly after it was signed.
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