Could a big bridge link CT and Long Island? Developer says it’s not a pipe dream

Supporters of a $50 billion plan to build a 15-mile bridge between Bridgeport, Connecticut, and Kings Park, New York, say the idea is no less plausible than the Apollo moon landing. “This isn’t the first idea that people think is a pipe dream,” said Stephen Shapiro, the Connecticut developer spearheading the proposal, at a Capitol press conference on Monday. “The moon landing was a lot more crazy back then than this bridge is now.” Shapiro has assembled a group of supporters under the banner of a nonprofit, the Connecticut-Long Island Initiative , including current and former elected officials from both sides of the aisle. “There’s no reason why America and Connecticut and New York together can’t do big projects,” said Bill Finch, a former Democratic state senator and one-time Bridgeport mayor. “This bridge will be an environmental juggernaut, a jobs juggernaut, and it will be the kind of thing that will put us on the map and make us all feel proud of being from the metro New York area.” Republican state Rep.

Joe Hoxha of Bristol is leading the charge for the bridge in the Connecticut House of Representatives.