So concludes the NY Times in an editorial today. In its words: "after years of languishing under the lackadaisical George Pataki, the project needs Mr. Spitzer’s focused energy to get pointed in a clear direction."

The Times agreed with County Executives Spano and Vanderhoef. They wrote a desperate plea to Spitzer a few weeks ago calling the project "confusing, unresponsive, and in several ways unreliable” and urging the governor to get immediately involved. (See a commentary in today's Journal News to get a sense of the confusion.)

The Tappan Zee is on its last leg, literally. A bridge built to last 50 years celebrated its 51st birthday in December. The NY Times reminded readers that the region's vitality is at stake with the "three miles laid upon the pathetic Tappan Zee Bridge." The planners have taken its six plans to the public. The only one that makes sense, wrote the paper, is Option One: doing nothing. 

In its words:

"We challenge anyone to go to the planners’ web site, www.tbzsite.com, and make sense of the proposals armed with anything less than a three-day weekend and an advanced degree in bureaucratic mumbling."

Time's a tickin' on the Tappan Zee project, and Spitzer has yet to commit publicly to any active state involvement. But the pressure's on, and with the governor clearly focused on smart economic growth, he may just see an incentive to get involved...