Highlights from the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge opening ceremony

Notable moments from today's new Tappan Zee Bridge opening ceremony. The bridge, formally named the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, opens to traffic at 9 p.m. Friday.

12:16 p.m.: Cuomo drives across the new bridge in a yellow 1955 Corvette with Pearl Harbor survivor Armando "Chick" Galella.

12:07 p.m.: Officials are now cutting the ribbon.

12:02 p.m.: Gov. Andrew Cuomo continues: "I see this bridge, connected by the Hudson to the Statue of Liberty 34 miles to the south." The State of Liberty holds the golden lamp and the bridge's towers reach out, he says. "The Statue of Liberty lights the way and we extend our arms in a gentle embrace" and say we welcome you to the state of New York and to the family of New York. "We together have dared to dream once again, and we together have worked hard to turn those dreams into reality and we have succeeded," he says. 

11:55 a.m.: Gov. Andrew Cuomo tells the crowd: "This bridge is a symbol, it's a symbol that shows this state and this nation what we haven't been doing for years. ... For decades we failed to build, we failed to push ourselves, we failed to embark on new ventures and we're now paying the price for it."

As a results roads and bridges are "crumbling beneath our feet." New York City's subway system has "train cars that are 50 years old that run on tracks that are 80 years old" and we're surprised when they break down, he says. Metro-North and LIRR were designed to handle one quarter of the population. "The question is why, why the complacency, why haven't we challenged ourselves, the way our forefathers challenged themselves, the way we want the next generation to challenge themselves? why has our government ambition waned and gotten smaller rather than greater?"  

Presidents including President Trump have said the future belongs to those who build it, and it depends on transit. Why didn't we do it? "I think It's because we didn't believe we could do it. We'd lost faith in government. ... We lost that daring and confidence that made New York New York," he tells the attendees.  That fear, that cynicism caused voters to choose "politicians who did less, not more," who offered explanations about why we couldn't rather than why we could.

Today is different.  "That is yesterday and this is today," Cuomo says. "Today says that the New York blood still runs in our veins.  New York didn't just happen. We built it this way, we constructed it this way.  We are the point on the globe where daring boldness and vision meet talent and ability, he says.  He says President Donald Trump's promised $100 billion infrastructure fund hasn't materialized, but New York is not waiting. "We lead the way," he says, citing the new Laguardia and Kennedy airport projects and elsewhere in the state, the LIRR third track and other projects.

11:47 a.m.: Gov. Andrew Cuomo recounts asking state staffers for big ideas as he started his administration. They suggest he can say he can build a Tappan Zee Bridge. "I say, Why can't we do it?" He's told all the obstacles. "I said to myself we cannot accept government incompetence as a general operating principle. If it was impossible, New York would not be New York." This bridge will handle more traffic, it will move it faster on more lanes." The bridge he says, "was done well, it was done professionally and it was done beautifully." He notes the bridge "will cost $1 billion less than our estimate and it was built in about five years, which is the blink of an eye for development." He calls the bridge and "extraordinary accomplishment." He thanks staffers "who took on the impossible and believed we could." 

"I believe our mojo is back, our confidence is back," Cuomo says. "There is nothing we can't do when we work together. That's what made the Empire State the Empire State and we're going to make the Empire State the Empire State again."

He added, "Our goal was to build a bridge that was artwork and I believe we did."

11:41 a.m.: Gov. Andrew Cuomo is speaking to the crowd. Calls the quality of union labor "second to none in this nation." Students from Nyack and Sleepy Hollow middle and high schools are at the ceremony. "We built this bridge for you. This is a 100-year guarantee bridge," he tells them.  "Our responsibility as parents and citizens is to leave this state a better state for you. This is our investment and our gift to you and your children."

11:37 a.m.: Rep. Nita Lowey tells the crowd of about 400: "From the beginning Andrew Cuomo made the new bridge one of his top priorities, recognizing the tremendous impact it can have for these communities and for the transit and commerce all across new York.  Jobs, jobs, jobs - he got it." She adds, "The Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge represents one of the largest public infrastructure projects in the country and it is setting a national example for delivering transformative infrastructure on tie and on budget." 

11:33 a.m.: Bill Mooney, president and CEO of the Westchester County Association, says the bridge is proof that government can effect real changes for the community.  He says the project has already benefited more than 764 businesses in the state, including 219 in Westchester, that were awarded contracts for part of the bridge work. "New York leaders are showing that leaders can still take on the kind of bold projects that keep New York going and moving forward." 

 11:27 a.m.: Mario Cilento, president of the New York State AFL-CIO says he is proud "to be able to stand here to say this bridge was building entirely, 100 percent by union members.: He says it's not an accident that it was finished on time and on budget, but thanks to the "most highly skilled, highly professional work force in this country." He thanks the 7,000 union members who built the bridge "with their minds, with their hearts, with their souls." He praises Gov. Andrew Cuomo: "Your sheer force of will has gotten us to where we are this afternoon, and we thank you for that."  With unions across the country under fire, he thanks Cuomo for supporting union later. 

 11:23: Toll on bridge will remain a $5 round-trip until at least 2020.

11:15 a.m.: Ceremony is under way. Armando "Chick" Galella of Sleepy Hollow, World War II vet who survived Pearl Harbor and who was at the Tappan Zee Bridge opening in 1955, will join Gov. Andrew Cuomo in a 1955 Corvette to go over the new bridge. That's the same model Galella drove in 1955.

11:07 a.m.: About 300 people are gathered on the new span, our Robert Brum reports. 

11:05 a.m.: "Very exciting to be up here in perfect weather for a bridge opening," says former Nyack Mayor John Shields while waiting for the ceremony to begin. 

10:40 a.m.: Matt Coyne reports that a crowd has assembled on the new bridge ahead of the 11 a.m. ceremony.