Port Authority: We're Not Renaming Anything...Yet

For about a day, Gothamist was worried that the Port Authority was seriously thinking renaming properties like the George Washington Bridge or John F. Kennedy Airport if sponsors would fork over enough money, but it turns out it was over eager speculation. The Port Authority is looking at possible shortfalls in the next few years and would consider renaming the Port Authority bus terminal; Gothamist liked Port Authority Commissioner Bruce A. Blakeman's quote:

"We would consider selling the naming rights for a bus terminal and if somebody offered us $1 billion, we would have to consider that. But we don't want to do something that is not in a classy manner. We will not take money to produce junk."

The City Council said that any renaming discussion would have to be open to public debate. Gothamist would love to see that: The George Washington Bridge Brought to you by Washington Mutual Bank.

And speaking of bridges, a federal highway data says that our bridges aren't aging well: 77% of the 1431 bridges are "structurally deficient" or "functionally obsolete." The Post's article says that the Brooklyn Bridge, the Triborough Bridge, the Bronx Whitestone, the Throgs Neck, the Henry Hudson Bridge, the Willis Avenue Bridge, the 145th Street Bridge, the Roosevelt Island Bridge, and the Alexander Hamilton Bridge are all "structurally deficient." Sigh.