The Tappan Zee river crossing was named by 17th century Dutch settlers. The Tappan Zee Bridge is the only crossing of the stretch of the Hudson between Westchester and Rockland counties.

The original Tappan Zee Bridge was a cantilever bridge built from 1952 to 1955. The bridge was 3 miles (4.8 km) long and spanned the Hudson at its second-widest point. It was the longest bridge in New York State, at a length of 16,013 feet (4,881 m) including approaches.[10] Built immediately after the Korean War, the bridge had a low construction budget of only $81 million and a designed life-span of only 50 years. During its first decade, the bridge carried fewer than 40,000 vehicles per day.

By the 2000s, the bridge was “decaying” and “overburdened”. The deteriorating structure bore an average of 140,000 vehicles per day, substantially more traffic than its designed capacity. The collapse of Minnesota’s I-35W Mississippi River bridge in 2007 raised worries about the Tappan Zee Bridge’s structural integrity. These concerns, together with traffic overcapacity and increased maintenance costs, escalated the serious discussions already ongoing about replacing the Tappan Zee with a tunnel or a new bridge. Six options were identified and submitted for project study and environmental review.

The current Tappan Zee Bridge, officially named the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, is a twin cable-stayed bridge spanning the Hudson River between Tarrytown and Nyack in the U.S. state of New York. It was built to replace the original Bridge, which was located just to the south. The new bridge’s north span carries the northbound and westbound automobile traffic of the New York State Thruway, Interstate 87 (I-87) and I-287; it also carries a shared use path for bicycles and pedestrians. The south span carries southbound and eastbound automobile traffic.

The process to replace the original bridge kicked off in 2012, and Tappan Zee Constructors began construction on the new spans in 2013. The Left Coast Lifter (one of the world’s biggest cranes) was instrumental in the construction of the bridge. The north span officially opened to westbound traffic on August 26, 2017, and eastbound traffic temporarily began using the north span on October 6, 2017. Tappan Zee Constructors then began demolishing the old bridge. An opening ceremony for the south span was held on September 7, 2018, and traffic started using the new span three days later.

The bridge’s official name, commemorating former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, has been controversial since its announcement. A petition and proposed legislation have opposed the attachment of Mario Cuomo’s name to the bridge.

While I have nothing in particular against Mario Cuomo I will always refer to it as the Tappan Zee Bridge, a name which seems to be much more evocative.

Taken with a Sony A6000 and some kind of manual focus lens. I forget which one.