On November 19, 2008, the Triborough Bridge was officially renamed after Robert F. Kennedy, former U.S. Senator representing New York and U.S. Attorney General, at the request of the Kennedy family. Forty years had passed since Kennedy had been assassinated during a 1968 presidential bid. Traffic and news reports have come to commonly refer to the bridge as the "RFK Triborough Bridge" and at times simply the "Triborough Bridge" to avoid confusion among residents long accustomed to its original name.