The RFK Bridge

On November 19, 2008, The Triborough Bridge was officially re-named The Robert Francis Kennedy Memorial Bridge. It was forty years ago this past June when Bobby Kennedy was gunned down by an assasin after winning the California Democratic presidential primary. We can only guess at what would have happenned if Bobby Kennedy faced Richard Nixon in the 1968 election. Perhaps some close friends would be alive today. Perhaps there would be peace.
After the assasination of Martin Luther King in April of 1968, Bobby predicted that in 40 years we would elect a black man to our highest office.
The tribute on 11/19/08 at the RFK Bridge included many speakers. This is what Mayor Bloomberg said:
Robert F. Kennedy is a perfect match in both regards. He climbed mountains — literally. In fact, there’s one in Canada named for him. But he also scaled plenty of mountains in his political career, cracking down on organized crime, helping his brother resolve the Cuban Missile Crisis, and fighting for equal opportunity for all Americans — from Bed-Stuy to Birmingham.
As United States attorney general, a U.S. senator from New York, and later, as a candidate for president, Robert F. Kennedy thought on a grand scale and achieved what many thought impossible.
He stood at the summit and saw the true soul of America. And like the great bridge that stretches above us, he tied us together: people of every color, every class, every creed. He united us — as New Yorkers and Americans — in the common cause of social justice. He devoted his life to the belief that America should be a place where any child — regardless of race or religion — has an equal shot at realizing the American dream of getting a good education, and of being elected to our nation’s highest office. He knew that day would come. And it has.

His most famous quote is:

"There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were and ask why not."

We miss you Bobby!
DD