Mike Lawler campaign hawking Tappan Zee Bridge swag, demanding Cuomo Bridge name change

Chris McKenna, New York State Team

Still hoping to get the old Tappan Zee Bridge name back? Rep. Mike Lawler's re-election campaign has got a beer huggie to sell you to make that view known.

And coffee mugs, bumper stickers, T-shirts and sweatshirts.

"No Cuomo! Bring Back the Tappan Zee," his merchandise proclaims, showing a profile of the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, as the rebuilt crossing has been known since it opened in 2017.

New York State Assemblyman Mike Lawler, center, with Rob Astorino and Rockland County Executive Ed Day, call for the changing of the name of the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge to its former name, the Tappan Zee Bridge, at Memorial Park in Nyack March 18, 2022.
New York State Assemblyman Mike Lawler, center, with Rob Astorino and Rockland County Executive Ed Day, call for the changing of the name of the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge to its former name, the Tappan Zee Bridge, at Memorial Park in Nyack March 18, 2022.

Resentment over the name change has lingered ever since on either side of the $4 billion double span between Rockland and Westchester counties, resulting in failed efforts in Albany to restore the historic name it bore for 62 years. The new name for an all-new bridge was devised under then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo and honored his father, who led the state from 1983 to 1995.

Lawler, who fought to restore the Tappan Zee name as a state assemblyman, is now seeking to mine the same local aggravation about the new moniker to raise campaign funds. A "No Cuomo" sweatshirt brings $60 to his coffers; a set of two bumper stickers raises $20.

Pending bill: Is it Tappan Zee or Mario Cuomo Bridge? Could be both under bill that NY Senate passed

"Join Congressman Lawler and the rest of the Team to bring back the Tappan Zee Bridge," reads his fundraising pitch. "The only way we’ll get this done is with a grassroots movement that New York has never seen!"

The Gov. Mario Cuomo Bridge was lit up in orange to raise awareness for hunger relief Nov. 15, 2023. The initiative was organized by Hillside Food Outreach, a nonprofit that delivers nutritious groceries to low-income and limited mobility families, seniors, and the chronically ill in New York and Connecticut.
The Gov. Mario Cuomo Bridge was lit up in orange to raise awareness for hunger relief Nov. 15, 2023. The initiative was organized by Hillside Food Outreach, a nonprofit that delivers nutritious groceries to low-income and limited mobility families, seniors, and the chronically ill in New York and Connecticut.

Congress has no say in the bridge name and Lawler has no bills that would try. The state bill that he introduced in 2022 to restore the Tappan Zee name is still pending in Albany, sponsored by his Assembly successor, John McGowan, and Sen. James Skoufis and modified with a compromise: it would combine the old and new names. The Senate passed that version last year but the Assembly never took it up.

Name game: Mario Cuomo Bridge or Tappan Zee? New push on to bring back old bridge's name

Lawler's campaign could not be reached immediately for comment on the bridge-related campaign merch. Former Rep. Mondaire Jones, the Democrat running to unseat Lawler, fired a shot at his opponent for exploiting an issue he can't control.

"As someone born and raised in Rockland, this will always be the Tappan Zee to me," Jones said in a statement. "But the fact that Congressman Lawler feels the need to fundraise off of a name change he would have nothing to do with speaks to his failure to accomplish anything else to run on during his brief, chaotic time in the MAGA Republican majority."

Chris McKenna covers government and politics for The Journal News and USA Today Network. Reach him at cmckenna@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Lawler campaign sells merch demanding to revive Tappan Zee Bridge name

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