ALBANY — Gov. Paterson’s administration approached New Jersey officials last month about the possibility of expanding north the boundary of the bi-state Port Authority to let that well-funded agency take over the costly job of replacing the Tappan Zee Bridge.
New York officials have searched for years for a way to raise the estimated $10 billion to $16 billion it would cost to replace the 55-year-old Tappan Zee, which carries the New York State Thruway between Rockland and Westchester counties.
Under the proposal, the two states would share the costs and future toll revenues based in proportion to their populations, the Democratic governor said.
“It was something that I wanted to work on and thought that I would present it as an idea now,” Paterson said Thursday.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who recently bucked New York officials and halted construction on a long-sought rail tunnel to Manhattan, roundly rejected Paterson’s two-state solution for the massive bridge-replacement project yesterday.
“I can’t make it any clearer to New York: Stop screwing with us, OK?” Christie fumed. “You’re not going to come and pick our pockets. New Jersey is not going to permit it anymore.
“We now have an administration that’s going to stand up to New York and say, ‘No,’ ” Christie continued.
Paterson’s major proposal came just weeks before he is to hand the keys to the Executive Mansion to fellow Democrat Andrew Cuomo and less than a month after Christie — citing runaway costs — dramatically ordered crews to quit work on a $10 billion-plus rail tunnel under the Hudson River.
Cuomo spokesman Josh Vlasto declined to comment on Paterson’s latest idea.
New Jersey’s annoyance may not be surprising given the history of the Tappan Zee. Paterson said former New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller deliberately excluded the bridge from the Port Authority before its construction so the Empire State could claim all the toll money.
