The Tappan Zee Bridge and the Forging of the Rockland Suburb

Panetta, Roger

From foreword: "As author Roger Panetta writes in his summation of The Tappan Zee Bridge and the Forging of the Rockland Suburb, this is the "story of modern America:' With the financial decision in the early 1950s to place a major revenue-producing river crossing at Nyack rather than end the thruway at Suffern, where it was to connect with Bergen County roads to New York City, the thruway Authority put Rockland within reach of the city and Westchester County, transforming a sparsely populated, countrified community into a destination for, as Panetta writes, "a great migration of peoples of many races, different classes, various religions, and many points of origin; some came from nearby cities and some from distant places ... in search of the postwar American Dream of the single-family home with its promise of community and harmony.'' It is Professor Panetta's thesis that 'While at times we lament the excesses of sprawl, we need to recognize the aspirations of all who crossed the bridge. This monumental structure bore promises of hope and renewal'... [Panetta's] scholarly look at prewar Rockland, with its farms and industry, county fairs, utopian communities, and famous artists, writers, and thespians, sets the stage for the magnetism of the smallest county geographically in New York State, outside Gotham. Panetta describes the summer bungalows that introduced families to Rockland; people remembered the bucolic relief from the hot city, and so, when the Tappan Zee Bridge and the Palisades Interstate Parkway opened commuting routes, they moved. He also details the engineering concerns of the bridge crossing at such a wide point in the Hudson River, where bedrock is so deep that the superstructure must float on caissons. These devices, made possible by World War II technology, became a metaphor for the crossing itself and the possibility it afforded urbanites for a new and better existence after the war. The professor gives us a panoramic view of the American suburb that is Rockland, from the time just after the bridge opened through the early growth difficulties, later sprawl, and the building of a highly controversial shopping center, the Palisades Center Mall, a symbol to some of the consequences of poor suburban planning. Finally, Panetta details the plans for and debate about a second coming of the road to suburbia, concluding, "The building of the bridge was a decisive moment in Rockland's history. And in this new connection, breaching the water boundary, overcoming the obstacles of nature, we find the origins of modern Rockland County:' It is a Rockland sure to be further defined by the growth and other changes prompted by both its suburban legacy and a new, bigger crossing at the Tappan Zee." Funding was provided in part by a 2008 Preserve America grant to Rockland County, New York (grant number 36-08-AP-4027) for the project The Tappan Zee Bridge: Transforming Rockland County. The grant was administered by the State, Tribal, and Local Plans and Grants Division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Preserve America is a federal initiative that encourages and supports community efforts to preserve and enjoy our priceless cultural and natural heritage. The goals of the program include a greater shared knowledge about the nation's past, strengthened regional identities and local pride, increased local participation in preserving the country's cultural and natural heritage assets, and support for the economic vitality of our communities.

The Tappan Zee Bridge and the Forging of the Rockland Suburb

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