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NYS Seal For Immediate Release:
June 4, 2008

 

Assembly Gives Final Passage To Legislation Honoring The Life And Work Of Robert F. Kennedy

Silver Bill Renames Triborough Bridge For Robert F. Kennedy


Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver announced the Assembly's final legislative passage of a measure which acknowledges the great contribution of Robert F. Kennedy to the State of New York and our nation by changing the name of the Triborough Bridge to the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge.

Under the measure, New York City's Triborough Bridge - which constitutes a series of spans and associated structures that connect the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx -would officially be renamed as "Robert F. Kennedy Bridge."

Silver noted that Robert F. Kennedy's family moved to New York shortly after his birth in 1925, and maintained a home in Bronxville, New York until 1942, where Kennedy attended Bronxville Public School for the third through fifth grades.

"The State of New York and our entire nation were enriched by Robert F. Kennedy's service as the sixty-fourth Attorney General of the United States, and trusted advisor to the President. As a member of the President's cabinet, Robert F. Kennedy was instrumental in averting untold disaster during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962," said Silver (D-Manhattan).

Kennedy later represented the State of New York in the United States Senate with great distinction, from 1965 until his untimely death in 1968, working tirelessly to improve the lives of New Yorkers, fighting poverty and advancing the civil rights movement. Senator Kennedy's contributions to New York include the formation of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation in 1967, the oldest community development corporation in the nation.

"Common throughout Kennedy's many works was an effort to bridge gaps among persons of diverse racial, ethnic and economic backgrounds. It is entirely appropriate to recognize Robert F. Kennedy, a great New Yorker, in this 40th year following his tragic assassination, by renaming the Triborough Bridge as the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge," said Silver.

The bill now goes to Governor Paterson for his consideration.