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Sunnyside Chamber Members Protest the Renaming of the Queensboro Bridge After Koch

Sunnyside Chamber Creates Protest Buttons

April 25, 2011 By Christian Murray

Several members of the Sunnyside Chamber of Commerce are calling on the New York City Council to repeal the law that recently renamed the Queensboro Bridge the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge.

The chamber members are urging council members, such as Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, to introduce new legislation that would bring back the old name.

Rebecca Barker, the new president of the Sunnyside Chamber of Commerce, asked Van Bramer at the United 40s Civic Association recently, whether he would act on the community’s behalf to change it.

“If there is a way to reverse it I will look into it,” Van Bramer said. Van Bramer said the renaming of the bridge was “one of the dumbest things we [the council] have ever done,” adding that “Koch never lived in Queens and spent most of his life in the Village.”

Barker said the chamber will soon be selling buttons on its website that will read: “Save the Queensboro Bridge.”

Barker said she recalls celebrating the bridge’s centennial celebration in 2009, and how historians made it clear at the time that the bridge essentially gave birth to the borough. She said the bridge belongs to the people of Queens, not a former a mayor.

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13 Comments

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georgetheatheist

SuperWittySmitty: You’re part of the problem. It’s NOT the 59th Street Bridge. The 2 bronze plaques at both ends over the roadway on the upper level clearly state it’s the “Queensboro Bridge”. Everybody, stop calling it the “59th Street Bridge” and maybe we’ll get somewhere

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SuperWittySmitty

As far as I’m concerned, it’s the 59th street bridge. I voted for Bloomberg- I remember realizing that he was the best candidate/ He’s not perfect fut he has really dedicated himself to the job and I don’t think he is that bad.

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raquel

Koch’s ego is bigger than the State of Texas. He should admit that this is a terrible, terrible idea.

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sunnysider

Raquel, I agree with you 100 % Ed Kotch should know what is going on and have the name changed of this bridge. there are so many people against this. We should have the whole borogh of Queens do a petition against it but we live closer so it effects us more.

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raquel

I DIDN’T VOTE FOR BLOOMBERG – and in fact, I even refused to carry his petition and have never signed a petition for him. I can hold my head high!

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Deniz

So when I take a cab home, I’m wondering, am I going to have to say, “We’re going to Queens, just over the Koch Bridge – ” ? ? ?

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raquel

Good luck – if Koch had any decency he would have refused to allow the name change to happen. He is an ego run wild.

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allow_me_to_retort

The fact this name change went through shows just how disconnected from the average citizen many politicians are. When they aren’t stroking their own egos, they are stroking those of fellow royalty, I mean politicians.

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