List of IllustrationsList of TablesAcknowledgmentsGuides to This BookIntroduction1 The I-287 Corridor: From Conception to Congestion2 Searching for Congestion Solutions (1980–1988)3 Finalizing Plans for the HOV Lane (1988–1995)4 Killing the HOV Lane (1994–1997)5 Permut’s Rail Line and Platt’s Bridge6 Pataki’s Task Force: Raising Expectations Sky High (1998–2000)7 The Thruway Authority versus Metro-North (2000–2006)8 Eliot Spitzer Doesn’t Have Enough Steam (2007–2008)9 David Paterson: The Overwhelmed Governor (2008–2010)10 Andrew Cuomo Takes Charge in 201111 Public Reaction and Cuomo’s Campaign (2011–2012)12 Lost Opportunities and Wasted ResourcesConclusionNotesBibliographyIndex
PHILIP MARK PLOTCH is an assistant professor of political science and director of the Masters in Public Administration program at Saint Peter’s University in Jersey City. He is the former director of World Trade Center Redevelopment and Special Projects for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, and the former manager of planning for New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
"We spend years in traffic yet know little of the brew of politics,
bureaucracy, interests, and ideals keeping us there. Planner and
political scientist Plotch examines this principle through one
transportation planning debacle: the three-decade struggle to
refurbish or replace the Tappan Zee Bridge across the Hudson River
north of New York City ... Anyone concerned about the place of
large infrastructure projects in the modern U.S. should consider
this sobering case study."
*Publisher's Weekly*
"Philip Plotch's political history about the replacement of New
York's Tappan Zee Bridge should be on the bookshelf of planners and
other practicioners, elected officials, community members, and
students engaged in or entering megaproject and urban politics
debates ... Plotch skillfully tells the painful story of this
bridge's evolution through a three-decade saga of conflict between
elected officials, engineers, planners, environmentalists, and
others who held divergent views about addressing traffic congestion
in the corridor."
*Journal of the American Planning Association*
"Philip Plotch combines a terrific story with a relentless search
for evidence and doses of humor to give us a first-rate portrayal
of the political process at work. He recounts the efforts over
several decades to replace the aging Tappan Zee Bridge. Through
three decades of struggle and failed plans, three governors—George
Pataki, Eliot Spitzer, and David Paterson—kept the project alive
though often on a 'death watch.' Plotch reveals how Governor Andrew
Cuomo picked up the torch, manipulated the facts where he thought
it necessary, and overcame many obstacles to begin
construction."
*author of Empire on the Hudson*
"Plotch has tremendous insight into the challenges of building
extraordinarily complex projects in difficult political and fiscal
climates. His professional experience and probing questions have
enabled him to help explain Planet Albany—a place where thought
defies gravity."
*Governor of New York, 2008-2010*
“The Tappan Zee Bridge has been a symbol of infrastructure inaction
in the U.S. over the last several decades – until now! New York
State's Governor Cuomo has found the way to overcome the bickering
among the many stakeholders and actually get to construction of the
much needed replacement for this obsolescent and heavily used
structure. How he did it, and how decades of issues stood in the
way, are well told by Dr. Philip Plotch. This is a treatise for
policy makers, planners, engineers, community leaders. Plotch has
brought to light the genius in how to get big things done. It
should go on your shelf next to your copy of Caro.”
*Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering (City College of New
York) and Director Emeritus*
“Even with my lifelong interest in traffic congestion, I had much
to learn from Politics Across the Hudson. What resonated most with
me is the extremely lengthy process of conflicting viewpoints among
the many agencies involved in our transportation systems. Nothing
gets done fast."
*author of Stuck in Traffic*
“Plotch’s analytical skills are top-notch and his writing is
incisive and succinct. He writes with a historian's attention to
detail, a political scientist's interest in theory, and a public
policy scholar's fascination with how the sausage is actually
made.”
*assistant professor of Politics and Advocacy, The New School, New
York*
Philip Plotch gives a brief history and sums up the future of the
Tapen Zee Bridge project in this short
video (http://youtu.be/PltWbA1aBhI)
*for WNYC*
"Governor David Patterson held about 6 meetings a month. That's
according to Professor Philip Plotch who recently published a
book, Politics across the Hudson, about the Tappan Zee Bridge
and the construction."
*WNYC*
"Politics Across the Hudson: The Tappan Zee Megaproject is a
short, compelling account of how good politics rarely translates
into good public policy. Its 191 pages make for easy reading and
its 41 pages of footnotes and bibliography, for authoritative
telling"
*Times Herald*
"Plotch, a former planning official with the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority and the Lower Manhattan
Development Corp., writes with depth and wit about
engineering, bureaucracy and politics"
*Times Union*
Winner of the prestigious American Planning Association journalism
award for its “in-depth research, hard hitting analysis and
compelling look at the politics behind New York's first major new
bridge in more than 50 years.”
*American Planning Association*
“Using original documents and conducting numerous interviews with
key players, the author went a long distance to unravel this
complex process. In so doing, he managed to eloquently, and in
great detail, trace the project’s political, planning and
bureaucratic evolution.”
*Journal of Planning Literature*
“a wonderful book about this infrastructure megaproject"
*Journal of the American Planning Association*
"Plotch dissects a well-intentioned assessment and public
participation process undone by parochial interests, turf battles,
unrealistic expectations, and arcane and glacial regulatory
procedures. Anyone concerned about the place of large
infrastructure projects in the modern U.S. should consider this
sobering case study"
*Publisher's Weekly*
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