Highway Sign Typo Names Donovan Richards As Bronx Borough Prez

WHITESTONE, QUEENS — A sign welcoming drivers into the Bronx sent some mixed messages.

Located on the Bronx side of the Whitestone Bridge, the "Welcome to the Bronx" sign incorrectly identified Donovan Richards as the borough president; Vanessa Gibson is the Bronx borough president and Richards holds the borough president seat in Queens.

The Department of Transportation, which oversees the city's parkway signs, told Patch that the sign was updated to reflect the correct borough president by about 10 a.m. — by then, however, the inaccurate image had widely circulated on Twitter, sparking a playful debate between Richards and Gibson themselves.

"Being the BP of by far the best borough in NYC comes with an understanding that everyone always has #Queens on their mind. It’s natural. But the Bronx and [Vanessa Gibson] deserve their due as well so I'll happily cede this space," tweeted Richards alongside an image of the sign.

Gibson, in response, joked that she was only seeing the sign now because she was "too busy being the BP that represents the best borough and the REAL birthplace of Hip-Hop."

Her tweet prompted a back-and-forth on Twitter, with each borough president sharing images of themselves alongside iconic musicians from their respective boroughs.

A spokesperson for the Department of Transportation did not respond to Patch's inquiry as to how and when this inaccuracy happened.

As of October, before Gibson was elected as borough president, the sign accurately identified the Bronx borough president as Ruben Diaz Jr., photos show, suggesting that the mishap occurred when the sign was being updated after November's general election.