Elected officials, perhaps sensing a difficult issue, largely kept their distance. A number of Tarrytown municipal leaders expressed concern about the plan at the Westchester session.

A representative of Congressman Ben Gilman spoke at one meeting, but only in favor of additional community consultation and input. Gilman's challenger this year, Greenburgh supervisor Paul Feiner, has in contrast taken a strong position favoring investigation and real-world tests of policies like time-variable tolls and West Shore passenger rail before any major cross-Hudson capital project takes place.

Numerous speakers pointed to the financial straits many expect the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to be entering as the source of their skepticism that any new Tappan Zee Bridge could serve as a mass transit conduit in any reasonable time-frame. A frequent demand connected to this theme was for an independent transit feasibility and financing study to double-check the "no problem" presentation the MTA and Thruway have offered to date of the general concept of an Orange/Rockland/Westchester commuter rail system.

Although Thruway officials say a decision about whether to repair or replace the Tappan Zee needs to be made soon, there seems no reason that the MTA cannot explain its ideas about transit right-of-way, ridership, financing and implementation schedule in more detail to elected officials and citizens, before beginning a formal environmental impact statement for the project.