Gov. Cuomo Seeks Balance Between Stop-and-Frisk and Civil Liberties, Pushes for Tappan Zee Bridge

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, back from a [fishing trip](http://www.capitaltonight.com/2012/07/a-true-fish-tale/)on Long Island, went on Fred Dicker's radio program today and aggressively  promoted his plan to replace the Tappan Zee Bridge. The plan for the bridge's replacement has been criticized by several different opposition groups, the New York Times [wrote](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/27/nyregion/tappan-zee-bridge-plan-draws-complaints-and-questions.html?pagewanted=all) late last month, with environmental advocates worried about the dredging process intrinsic to the project, and local lawmakers insisting that a plan for mass transit be included in the $5.2 billion bridge construction. Today, Cuomo said that mass transit would double the cost of the bridge replacement and the controversy was an impediment to progress. "I think the Tappan Zee is a good example of a larger problem that we have that is pervasive," he said. "We talk about gridlock?There's another form of gridlock, which is just the lack of capacity for government, for society through government to implement big projects. When you have a big project,you will always have opposition," he said. "Do you allow the opposition and the controversy to defeat the project or not? If controversy  always wins, we build nothing," he said. UPDATED: The Tri-State Transportation Campaign mailed out a release this afternoon questioning the Cuomo administration's cost estimates for a bus rapid transit system on the Tappan Zee. The release says the Campaign FOIL-ed for information on the projected costs. "New York State never analyzed the price of a simple bus rapid transit (BRT) system for the new Tappan Zee Bridge and I-287 corridor, according to a preliminary Tri-State Transportation Campaign analysis of state documents. Documents obtained on June 18, 2012 in response to the Campaign's Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request, indicate the state's cost assumptions for BRT instead rely on projections for a more elaborate, fully built-out configuration." To read the full article at City & State [click here. ](http://www.cityandstateny.com/cuomo-pushes-tappan-zee-bridge-plan-seeks-balance-stop-and-frisk-civil-liberties/)