Ever Wonder Why the Mario Cuomo Bridge Is Built Over the Widest Part of the Hudson?

Ever Wonder Why the Mario Cuomo Bridge Is Built Over the Widest Part of the Hudson?

Oh, you sweet, naive soul.

You thought it was engineering?

Efficiency?

Geography?

Nope. It was capitalism... in a suit and tie.

Back in 1944, Governor Thomas Dewey was launching New York’s superhighway dream—Buffalo to NYC. But to make it happen, he needed that sweet, sweet toll revenue. And he didn’t want to share a single dime of it with the Port Authority.

Problem is: if your bridge is within 25 miles of the Statue of Liberty, the Port Authority gets a cut.

So what did Dewey do?

He purposely built the bridge several miles north—outside their jurisdiction.

Even though that meant building it across one of the widest parts of the Hudson River.

Three times longer. Three times more expensive.

All just to keep the Port Authority from touching a dollar of toll cash.

So the Tappan Zee Bridge was born, stretched out like a budget yoga pose, because profits over practicality.

Fast forward to 2018, they replaced it with the Mario Cuomo Bridge…

In the exact same spot.

Still long. Still inefficient. Still just far enough away from Lady Liberty to keep the Port Authority out of the vault.

Because if there’s one thing stronger than steel,

It’s the power of toll revenue in perpetuity.

Who needs logic when you've got loopholes?