A Bridge Too Far: Mamdani Wants to Erase Name of Jewish Predecessor From Iconic Overpass

Queensboro Bridge. (Credit: Wilmer Olano)

New York City’s democratic socialist mayor Zohran Mamdani is everything we warned you about and more.

Now he wants to strip the name of one of his predecessors, the iconic '80s figure Ed Koch, from the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge (also known as the 59th Street Bridge), because he doesn’t like the way Koch handled the AIDS crisis, which broke out some 45 years ago. Oh, and Koch just happens to have been Jewish.

Advertisement

Although Koch had his controversies just like every politician, he was also credited with steering the city through a severe financial crisis and won his reelection bids by 75 percent in 1981 and 78 percent in 1985. He was known for his genial but often brash style and was fond of saying, “‘How’m I doin'?”

But let’s erase him from history:

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani and other Democrats want to strip former Mayor Ed Koch’s name from the iconic 59th Street Bridge (Queensboro Bridge).

Koch — the second Jewish mayor in NYC history after Abraham Beame — led the city through the fiscal crisis, stabilized finances, and fought crime in the ’70s/’80s. He earned that renaming in 2011 for a reason.

Now they’re coming for it over decades-old grievances about the AIDS crisis.

This isn’t just renaming a bridge. It’s erasing history, especially Jewish leadership in NYC.

Hands off Koch’s bridge. Are you paying attention, New York City?

(Video: AI)

Advertisement

MORE MAMDANI: NYC's New Mayor Reveals His Real Commie Colors (VIP)

'A Slap in the Face' — NYC Mayor Mamdani Blows Off Israel Day, Because of Course He Did


The extremist mayor wants to punish a dead man for his LGBT policies from the last century:

The Democratic socialist mayor and City Council Speaker Julie Menin were just two of the politicians who told an LGBT group that they’d be in favor of canceling Koch from the bridge, also called the Queensboro Bridge, over his alleged mishandling of the 1980s AIDS crisis, The Post has learned.

“Yes, I support renaming,” Mamdani said on the campaign trail last year on a questionnaire sent by the Jim Owles Liberal LGBT Democratic Club used in deciding whether to endorse a candidate.

The City Council and then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg renamed the bridge in Koch’s honor in 2011, two years before his death at age 88.

Koch, a World War II veteran and the second Jewish Big Apple mayor, served three terms from 1978 to 1989.

Koch even filmed a promotional video by standing at the foot of the Queensboro Bridge and saying, “Welcome to my bridge!”

The activists contend that Koch didn’t act quickly enough during the AIDS crisis, which killed millions of people around the world. Of course, there was no known cure for the disease at the time, and there still isn’t, although the Antiretroviral therapy (ART) that has been developed over the years allows people to live with the illness, and it’s no longer the automatic death sentence it once was.

Advertisement

Mamdani promised he would address the needs of regular New Yorkers. I’m not sure how erasing the names of long-gone predecessors and settling old scores accomplishes any of that. Instead, it just reeks of intolerance and retribution.

What it certainly does not seem like is an effort to bring the city together.

Editor’s Note: New York City is now facing the consequences of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s socialist takeover.

Help us continue to report on his radical policies and expose the Democrats who support him. Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.

Recommended

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on RedState Videos