Queens politician pushing to get Ed Koch's name off bridge

City Council Member Peter F. Vallone Jr. has introduced legislation to drop the name of the recently deceased former New York Mayor from the “Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge.”

The Bridge’s moniker was lengthened in 2011 to honor the three-term mayor, who died in Feb. 1 at the age of 88.

The legislation from the outgoing Queens councilmember calls for Koch’s named to be dropped from the 59th St. bridge and to instead be slapped on something else - the Ed Koch Municipal Building. “I wanted to start the process so the Queens elected officials who come after me can restore the Queensboro Bridge to its rightful owners while simultaneously providing an appropriate honor for the late Mayor Koch,” Vallone said in a statement.

The effort was ridiculed by George Arzt, press secretary and spokesman for the late mayor. “Peter Vallone obviously has a brick missing from his unimpressive façade,” said Arzt. “If (Vallone) only spent some time on the issue that his constituents cared about, he might have been elected (Queens) borough president,” instead of being defeated by Melinda Katz, Arzt said.

Renaming the municipal building after Koch instead of the bridge is not acceptable, said Arzt, who gave the measure zero chance of passing. The recently departed mayor, he said, “loved waking up in the morning and hearing that traffic was backed up on the Koch.”