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It's Official — Meet the Ed Koch-Queensboro Bridge

By DNAinfo Staff on April 11, 2011 3:14pm  | Updated on April 11, 2011 3:13pm

By Jill Colvin

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MURRAY HILL — Crews got straight to work installing signs pointing to the new "Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge" after Mayor Michael Bloomberg made the name official Monday.

"First let me say, I'm feeling groovy," said Koch, in a nod to Simon and Garfunkel's famous song, "59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)," as he stood in front of the bridge at a bill signing ceremony re-christening the structure.

"That they would honor me this way at a time when I can actually be here was very, not only thoughtful, but very, very generous," said a radiant Koch, who was surrounded by members of his family and administration.

The bill was signed despite protest from some City Council members who felt the name shouldn't be changed.

The new “Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge.
The new “Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge."
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DNAinfo/Jill Colvin

"I think all New Yorkers will come to see just how fitting this re-naming is," said Bloomberg, who first floated the idea of renaming the bridge at Koch's 86th birthday celebrationin December. "The bridge is a real work horse, just like Ed. And as I've said before, this bridge has been around forever and probably will [out]last us all, just like Ed."

The $255,000 cost of replacing the bridge's 178 signs will be paid for with private donations, the mayor said.

Crews were already at work Monday, the mayor said, with one spotted preparing to install a sign at East 63rd Street and Second Avenue shortly after the ceremony.