Archive for the ‘Tappan Zee Constructors LLC’ Category
Bridge Art incorporates Pieces of Tappan Zee; Lingering Thoughts
Filed under: Governor Andrew Cuomo, Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, President Barack Obama, shared use path, South Nyack, Tappan Zee Bridge, Tappan Zee Constructors LLC, Tarrytown, Thruway Authority, TIFIA, viewing areas | Tags: ArtsWestchester, Governor Andrew Cuomo, Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, Hudson River, scenic overlooks, shared use path, South Nyack, Tappan Zee Bridge, Tarrytown, Thruway Authority

As the bridge project and my time documenting it are completed, I twice walked from South Nyack to Tarrytown in June. It won’t be the last time as those 3.6 miles afford gorgeous views of the Hudson Valley. Once to took the free shuttle bus that operates Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays back to my car at the South Nyack landing. The second time Trooper Griffin of State Police Troop T drove me across the bridge to the South Nyack landing as it was Thursday, and I’d forgotten to bring fare for the shuttle back. Appreciated the ride and conversation.
Thank you for reading my blog, which I began after two community meetings with business leaders. Notable moments from this project, one of my more fascinating assignments, include President Obama’s visit to Tarrytown, the super crane’s arrival, its first girder assembly placement, the main span towers’ completion and the westbound span’s opening day.
Fast forward to June 2020: the long-awaited path on that span opened, affording a bit more space to bicyclists than to pedestrians and highlighting the importance of safety, speed and consideration within in its 12-foot width. Sculptures at each landing — one above in South Nyack, two below in Tarrytown — contain reclaimed steel from the Tappan Zee Bridge.
About the Tappan Zee: I agree with a friend that the governor was disingenuous at best for ignoring the indigenous name for the area and for ignoring its history by renaming the new bridge for his late father.
The structure cost more than its initial price tag and took longer to complete than its contracted five years and two months, and the design-build team sued the state for $900 million in extra costs last November. Did you know the initially-proposed “light rail” was never to be built? If it was, then where would it connect to exiting rail lines? Now you know.
If you’ve read something within this blog that sparks a memory or would like to learn more about the new bridge, then visit Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge. The New NY Bridge website is archived on that site and will remain live or follow links within this blog to its pages.
You can find me via the About/Contact page. Till we meet again on the path . . . or something inspires me to continue here.
I’d like to know what you think.
Copyright © Janie Rosman and Kaleidoscope Eyes 2020
Follow up to Last Week’s NYSTA FOIL Adventure
Filed under: Governor Andrew Cuomo, shared use path, Tappan Zee Constructors LLC, Thruway Authority | Tags: ArtsWestchester, Capital Region Welcome Center, CBS6, FOIL, Governor Andrew Cuomo, Greg Floyd, shared use path, Tappan Zee Constructors, Thruway Authority

Look up at the sky, and what do you see? Endless space.
Something else that’s endless: the rabbit hole one falls into when making a FOIL request of the New York State Thruway Authority. Turns out I’m not alone.
CBS6 newscaster and reporter Greg Floyd described his nearly year-long attempt to get financial information about the new Capital Region Welcome Center.
And although some of the information I asked for was revealed in a press release last Friday, Records Access Officer Jill B. Warner told me:
“We are performing a diligent search for records responsive to your request. We will notify you of our progress by March 3, 2020. Copies of responsive documents are available pursuant to the Freedom of Information Law Section 87(1)(b) & (c).”
Now it’s moot; however, no one is alone for long in the NYSTA FOIL rabbit hole. My journey began with floating concrete batch plants . . .
I’d like to know what you think.
Copyright © Janie Rosman and Kaleidoscope Eyes 2020
Stalling and Deflecting: Nothing New for NYSTA
Filed under: Governor Andrew Cuomo, shared use path, Tappan Zee Constructors LLC, Thruway Authority | Tags: ArtsWestchester, FOIL, Governor Andrew Cuomo, shared use path, Tappan Zee Constructors, Thruway Authority

What happens when deadlines are missed, and reporters ask about them? Silence.
So much for Governor Cuomo’s talk about FOIL requests and open government.
The bike racks were to have been completed three months ago.
As I wrote in another blog post, I’m in good company: the consortium that won the contract to build the bridge that was to have opened within 62 months of its start date is one of many groups suing the New York State Thruway Authority for stalling when asked to provide public records.
I’d like to know what you think.
Copyright © Janie Rosman and Kaleidoscope Eyes 2020
So Much Secrecy in the Bridge Project’s Cache
Filed under: Governor Andrew Cuomo, shared use path, Tappan Zee Constructors LLC, Thruway Authority | Tags: ArtsWestchester, FOIL, Governor Andrew Cuomo, shared use path, Tappan Zee Constructors, Thruway Authority

This is getting old.
Thruway Authority Records Access Officer Jill B. Warner repeated her sing-song reply to me years after the batch plant accident, when no one wanted the truth known that the second mobile concrete mini-factory was doomed to malfunction so it, too, was immediately shut down.
Sources told me the governor’s office reviewed each project-related FOIL request with a fine-tooth comb.
I’d asked for information about the oh-so-many-months-ago call for proposals from artists to create a mural and bicycle racks for the bridge that was to have opened five years and two months after the project began. Path’s still not open.
“The Thruway Authority acknowledges your correspondence dated January 13, 2020 which, pursuant to FOIL, requested,” Warner’s email said.
What is the agency hiding? It mocks the FOIL request by saying it is “performing a diligent search for records” about projects it initiated and “will notify (me) of (its) progress by February 19, 2020.”
When I got too close for comfort last time, one of its lawyers called me to try and silence me: going to any length to hide the truth. Small consolation knowing the agency also stalled other reporters and the bridge project’s design-build team.
I’d like to know what you think.
Copyright © Janie Rosman and Kaleidoscope Eyes 2020
TBT: Controlled Demolition of East Anchor Span
Filed under: Rockland County, Tappan Zee Bridge, Tappan Zee Constructors LLC, Thruway Authority, Westchester County | Tags: main span channel, New York State Thruway, safety, Tappan Zee Bridge, Tappan Zee Constructors

Crowds gathered to watch this time last year. Here it is in real time and in slow motion courtesy of Kevin P. Coughlin/State of New York. The section looks like it’s floating on the water; however, the perfect fall caused its columns to drop to the river bottom.
Demolition experts placed charges on vertical support structures along the span of the bridge. The charges were timed to detonate in a way that would safely lower the remaining structure eastward, away from the Hudson River’s main navigation channel, according to a fact sheet released by the construction project.
Fitting it happened this month: January 2013 was when the Thruway Authority issued Tappan Zee Constructors, LLC (TZC) Notice To Proceed.
I’d like to know what you think.
Copyright © Janie Rosman and Kaleidoscope Eyes 2020