New York lawmaker attacks the wrong Cuomo as he pushes to rename bridge

New York Republican Mike Lawler is fighting to strip the Cuomo name from a bridge spanning the Hudson River — and one of his recent attacks is taking some heat for targeting the wrong member of the political dynasty.

The freshman congressman went after former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who resigned in 2021 after a barrage of sexual harassment allegations, as part of his push to rename the bridge, formerly known as the Tappan Zee.

“Three years ago today, former Governor Cuomo resigned in disgrace. Yet his name is still on the Tappan Zee Bridge!” Lawler wrote on X on Sunday, August 25.

The problem? The bridge was actually renamed after the disgraced lawmaker’s father, Mario Cuomo, who served as the state’s governor from 1983 to 1994.

“We must rename the bridge — get your No Cuomo merch today!” Lawler added, posting a black T-shirt featuring a graphic of the bridge surrounded by the words: “No Cuomo! Bring back the Tappan Zee!” His re-election campaign website also offers a variety of “No Cuomo” merch, including, but not limited to, beverage coolers, bumper stickers, and mugs.

Andrew Cuomo renamed the bridge in honor of his late father in 2018 after more spans of the bridge were created to ease traffic. A Justice Department investigation found in January that the former governor sexually harassed 13 employees while in office. Cuomo, however, has always denied the allegations against him.

Former Democratic Rep Mondaire Jones called out Lawler for his misleading post. Jones, who held New York’s 17th congressional seat before Lawler and is now running to retake it, posted on X: “If Mike Lawler is willing to lie about the name of an iconic bridge with large lettering on it, why should Lower Hudson Valley residents trust