Yesterday, the Triborough Bridge was renamed the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge to honor former Attorney General and Senator from New York. Former president Bill Clinton, Mayor Bloomberg and Governor David Paterson joined RFK's children and widow, Ethel Kennedy, for the event. Paterson said, "Robert F. Kennedy was a champion of social justice and human rights and his spirit is kept alive by his family’s continued commitment to those causes. I am particularly pleased to have......

There's been many opinions tossed around regarding the name change of the Triborough Bridge to the Robert F. Kennedy bridge, but like it or not it's all goin' down on November 19th. NYMag notes that there's a bit of irony surrounding the change, however, saying "there’s no reason to think Kennedy, an environmentalist before his time, would have wanted his name associated with the notorious bottleneck site." Columbia University's Kenneth T. Jackson says, "with the......

In January former Governor Spitzer addressed the idea of former New York senator Robert F. Kennedy claiming name to the Triborough Bridge. It immediately rose questions about RFK's carpetbagger status, and his importance (or lack thereof) to New York's history. Most of you voted "nay" on the renaming of the bridge, but lawmakers have just voted for it. amNewYork reports that the final legislative approval was made on June 4th, just two days before the......

Photo via Frank Lynch's Flickr. Earlier this month we tried to look at the Triborough Bridge as the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge when Governor Spitzer brought the name change up for consideration. While RFK supporters toss around the obvious "he built bridges" metaphor, The NY Times would like to point out that he also burned them. They suggest that the city stop looking for big names to attach to their structures and streets, and......

Would a bridge by any other name, bring you to JFK Airport just as smoothly as the Triborough? In all likelihood, yes, but the big question here is should it be renamed after JFK's younger brother, former New York senator Robert F. Kennedy. The NY Sun reports the Governor will address this during his State of the State address today, making him the latest governor to consider it. Governor Carey planned to rename it after......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: A boat in distress at the Roosevelt Island Bridge, a homicide on Howard in Brooklyn, and a stabbing on Jamaica Avenue and 161st Street in Queens Hillary Clinton out-fund-raises Rudy Giuliani and Barack Obama in New York, which makes sense since she's been building her donor list as a Senator from New York. The big mystery of NYC: Where the middle class live. A man was fatally hit by......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: An overturned vehicle on the Triborough Bridge, which can't be good for all those getting away for the weekend; an escaped prisoner in The Bronx; and multiple pedestrians were struck Dyckman Street & Broadway. Early this morning in Bed-Stuy, a police officer sitting in a marked vehicle was shot in the arm. The officer was treated and released from Kings County Hospital but the NYPD is still searching for......

As many people wonder about the state of the bridges in the New York City region, in the wake of I-35 collapsing in Minneapolis, the city's Department of Transportation is trying to reassure residents that our bridges are safe. Though many bridges meet the definition of "deficient" - 19% of bridges are in "fair" or "poor" condition, 15% meet the federal definition of "structurally deficient" - a DOT first deputy commissioner Lori Ardito says,......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a fatal fall victim at Clove Rd. and Hillcrest Terrace on Staten Island, a severed finger on East 38th St. and Madison Ave., and an animal rescue at 173rd St. in Queens. Sirius satellite radio (channel 85) will feature tribute broadcasts of performances by the recently deceased Beverly Sills tonight and tomorrow evening, at 9 pm and 8 pm, respectively. Shooting of the film adaptation of Jerome Robbins' ballet......

This story has it all: Wild turkeys, bottle rockets and a 59-year-old man with connections to the Columbo crime family. Franklin Picone was arrested yesterday for allegedly setting off bottle rockets to disturb wild turkeys that roost in his Dongan Hills neighborhood. But Picone claims it wasn't him, even though he does admit to hating the turkeys and calling up the city to complain about them - there are about 40-50 that wander around. Picone's......

A totally wild carjacking unfolded yesterday across two boroughs. A man stole an orange Range Rover SUV at a Queens car wash, and then tried to run over a cop who stopped him at the Whitestone Bridge in the Bronx. The SUV's owner David Irish had called the police when his car was stolen from the car wash, so authorities were on the look out. Around 12:15pm, Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority Police Office Chidir......

The city's Franchise and Concession Review Committee is scheduled to vote this coming week on whether or not to approve a proposal to have twenty Manhattan private schools pay for part of the renovation of Randall's Island athletic fields in return for exclusive use of a majority of the fields. The plan, which is separate from the controversial water park, calls for schools such as Dalton and Spence to pay the city $52 million dollars......

Robert Moses’ legacy may be getting tweaked if organizers of three upcoming exhibitions have their way. The NY Times’ Robin Pogrebin is reporting that the Museum of the City of New York, the Queens Museum of Art and Columbia’s Wallach Art Gallery will unveil a three-parter over the next month on the master builder. Columbia University architectural historian Hilary Ballon says that Moses’ achievements have been overlooked. From the Times: Living in New York,......

Some of Gothamist's favorite stories in the city were about the animals of New York City. Here's how animals ruled the Big Apple in 2006: - A whippet went missing at JFK Airport after appearing at the Westminster Dog Show; a loyal group people have still been looking for Vivi since February. - A star was born when Fred the cat helped nabbed a bogus vet. He was made a (honorary) detective by Brooklyn......

Clearly it's Thanksgiving when a wild turkey tries to hightail it out of the city by way of the Triborough Bridge. A 10 pound female bird was loose around the toll plaza on the Manhattan side, and six MTA workers chased her! After fifteen minutes, a construction worker helped catch the bird. The Triborough's General Operations Manager Ray Bush said, "Watching it unfold on our cameras, it seemed the only thing missing was someone playing......

Yow. Reaction to graffiti artist-vandal-user-whathaveyou Kiko's sentence (6 months and a $25,000 fine) for tagging various Queens locations was pretty straightforward - graffiti hating City Councilman Peter Vallone was upset Kiko didn't get more time with street art enthusiasts were sorry about it. ANIMAL New York wrote a post noting that Vallone's used graffiti as a "personal soapbox": Although we do think KIKO should be punished in some form or another, specifically public service,......

Yesterday morning's car accident involving a man suspected of stabbing someone in Rhode Island is profoundly crazy. Joel Noonan was trying to drive away from MTA police on Lexington Avenue when his Jeep Cherokee crashed into Nissan Pathfinder near 63rd Street, hitting pedestrians, with the Pathfinder ultimately crashing into a travel office window. One woman, Eve Maria Boisbel, was hit so hard that she, as Newsday reports, was "wedged inside a black metal garbage can......

Yesterday (we think), NY Times published a Q &A with its photo editor Michele McNally. It's very interesting and informative, with notes on what kinds of cameras are used, why color photos on actual newspapers can suck, the paper's policy on publishing pictures of wounded or dead American soldiers. But there was an odd part answering a university student's question, "after 9/11, what obstacles do your photographers encounter and how do they get the......

The Triborough Bridge is 70 years old today. As the MTA puts it, the bridge is "actually three bridges, a viaduct, and 14 miles of approach roads connecting Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx." And traveling along it can provide some of the most beautiful views of the city -and the bridges themselves aren't bad. Today, the NY Times looks at the history of the bridge and its creator, Robert Moses. We liked this quote......

-- Drat! We missed the strangely beautiful Dance of the Giglio this weekend in Williamsburg. -- Gawker outs A.O. Scott as a terrorist -- he loves movies, but hates freedom! -- Faso beats Spitzer! [In a 5k race, by 14 seconds.] -- Advice from a prospective Miss Korea NYC: "In a Korean deli or cleaners, say Ahn nyoung ha se yo. That means hello. They’ll give you a discount." Does this work at nail......

Over the weekend, a driver took the time to U-turn and drive against traffic on the FDR for 30 blocks when police were tailing him. Apparently the driver, Thomas Mathurin, had been weaving on the Triborough Bridge and then paid no heed to the FDR's lane closures - there was a motorcycle procession. When he got to a blockade the police set up at East 44th, Mathurin turned around and headed north while still in......

On Sundays, Gothamist publishes essays about topics relevant to life in New York. The one below is by our favorite poet historian, Matt Levy-- master of the extended metaphor: Welcome back Ladies and Gents, to the hip happening hotspot that’s absolutely not possible: New York City outside the space-time continuum! I am your host and it has been my extraordinary pleasure to allow you, the good readers and citizens of Gotham City, to enjoy......

Mayor Bloomberg lambasted the state's PACB decision to reject a plan to finance the West Side Stadium, telling New Yorkers, "We have let down America." Yes, Mayor Bloomberg was swimming in hyperbole, saying:"We've lost a little bit of our spirit to go ahead and our can-do attitude. If you adopt this kind of policy, we never would have built Carnegie Hall, we never would have built Radio City Music Hall, we never would have built......

For about a day, Gothamist was worried that the Port Authority was seriously thinking renaming properties like the George Washington Bridge or John F. Kennedy Airport if sponsors would fork over enough money, but it turns out it was over eager speculation. The Port Authority is looking at possible shortfalls in the next few years and would consider renaming the Port Authority bus terminal; Gothamist liked Port Authority Commissioner Bruce A. Blakeman's quote: "We would......

The powerhouse duo of the NY Jets and Mayor Bloomberg's administration, supported by Lord knows how many lawyers, chalked up a win when the MTA board unanimously approved the Jets' bid to develop the West Side Railyards. And by unanimously approved, that means 14 voting board members thought the Jets' ultimate $210 million bid was better (or more feasible) than Cablevision's $400 million bid. Why was only $210 million accepted? The $440 million part......