The Hell Gate Bridge turns 100 years old this year — and its age is showing, a group of elected officials say.
Queens politicians are calling on Amtrak to repaint the Hell Gate ahead of its centennial this September, pointing to the "unbecoming appearance" of the bridge's faded and mismatched paint.
"The bridge has not been repainted since the 1990s, and stands today covered in a patchwork of pink, beige, and brown," the officials wrote in a letter sent to Amtrak President Joseph Boardman last week.
The letter — signed by Congressman Joseph Crowley, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas, State Sen. Michael Gianaris and Councilman Costa Constantinides — describes the Hell Gate as "an iconic piece of Amtrak's infrastructure."
17 comments:
did these hack pols get summoned by their developer overseers to get this "iconic" bridge to be "revitalized" so there will be another pretty sight for the tower people to admire from afar?
Get the guys who painted the NYS Pavilion for free to do it!
Remember that Amtrakis run by the Federal government.
They have consistently been losing money.
They will never agree to this...
Yeah, paint an old bridge. That should be Amtrak's number one priority.
"unbecoming appearance"?
I think it looks classic and they should leave it as is.
The only paint job should be for the parts that might rust.
There's a reason it looks the way it does.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/08/a-bad-impression-outlasts-a-bridges-new-paint/?_r=0
Didn't they just paint it for the first time in 80 somewhat years ago? It's got another 50 years before it needs another paint job! Just paint over the career politicians who add absolutely no value to the community other to themselves and their cronies.
did these hack pols get summoned by their developer overseers to get this "iconic" bridge to be "revitalized" so there will be another pretty sight for the tower people to admire from afar?
Exactly, can you think of ANYTHING they have done specifically for their community - all they do is harvest money in campaign donations - whose purpose is murky at best.
We need another toll to pay for it.
More tool booths and higher toll prices...
I'm confused - are posters saying that paint isn't an important part of proper bridge maintenance?
I live in the area. There are many, many more significant issues to work on. However, they don't offer the stupid simplicity, the ability to photo op or grandstand that something like this does. Fits perfectly on the front page of one of the lame mailings:
Simotas and Gianaris fight for paint!
That's great camouflage in case some gay Martians might decide to attack the bridge.
It looks invisible from outer space.
Speaking of space...the local pol space cadets don't give a shit about anything but lining their pockets with gold.
They are content to wear a patchwork bridge as a symbol of their high style.
Yes, it's important to paint the bridge - it's getting pretty rusty. BUT they need to paint it using proven, off the shelf paint and not some special formula. They also need to make sure that paint is not watered down by the contractor doing the job.
The previous paint job should have lasted longer, but politics got involved, and a shady contractor robbed us all. Same formula for all these big projects the pols throw away our money on only to see huge cost overruns.
Roebling promised the Brooklyn Bridge would last forever so long as they kept painting it
"Paint it black". - the Rolling Stones
Or bright red for the Stones "Let It Bleed" LP.
It seems like all of our electeds are painting something . The NYS Pavilion, the Hell Gate Bridge, Graffiti on overpasses...
Are they not able to do anything really constructive and beneficial for their own constituents for a change?
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