ALBANY — In a major boost for the state, the federal government has awarded New York the low-interest loan it was seeking to help pay for the construction of the new Tappan Zee Bridge. The feds agreed to lend up to $1.6 billion — the largest loan ever given out under the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act — to fund a third of the anticipated costs for the new bridge over the Hudson River. It’s everything we’ve been looking for and more,” Cuomo crowed on public radio. Earlier this week, Standard & Poor’s reduced the Thruway Authority’s bond rating...