Central Harlem's main commercial corridor is a good example since 125th Street has such a strong hold in peoples memories that a lot of folks do not even know that it is also called Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Lenox Avenue was originally the long forgotten Sixth Avenue of uptown but is sometimes called Malcolm X Boulevard. We also hear locals say 7th Avenue or 8th Avenue when referring to Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard or Frederick Douglas Boulevard in every day speech.
Newcomers tend to be more politically correct and try to respect the given names but acronyms such as FDB sometimes causes older residents to cringe. At the end of the day it appears that honorific are just for a show of respect but many residents just go on their day ignoring them. Any thoughts out there on this topic?
I for one long wondered why Duke Ellington Boulevard is West 106th Street, and not in Harlem...it only took a quick internet search to find out that he lived at 333 Riverside Drive, next to the Buddhist Church. He also owned two other houses nearby, one for his son Mercer and one for his sister Ruth.
ReplyDeleteManhattan was designed as a grid with intuitive naming. Changing the names of streets (like changing the names of bridges) anywhere is wrong. Honoring someone on the street is fine, but keep the original grid number name! Residents probably find it easier to geographically locate when using 7th, 8th, avenues, etc.
ReplyDeleteWhen I am directing downtown people to my apartment I say "8th Avenue" because it is 8th Avenue and that says more about where it is located (east or west_) as opposed to FDB or Frederick Douglas Boulevard.
I say lets reclaim all the numbers for the street to make navigating easier!
Changing street names is one of the few things that city officials can do. All of the other powers are reserved to the state. As a result, you will continue to get street name changes since this is all pandering politicians can do.
ReplyDeleteI see no problem with adding an honorific name as a street sign while keeping the original designation in place. Frederick Douglass may be a name of no significance to some, but it is a source of great pride to others. Having two names certainly hasn't hurt Sixth Avenue; in fact there is a bit of insider cachet to knowing how New Yorkers refer to Avenue of the Americas.
ReplyDeleteI've always referred to FDB and Adam Clayton Powell Blvd. as Eighth Avenue and Seventh Avenue, respectively, and Lenox Avenue (Malcolm X Blvd.) has always been Lenox, my admiration and debt to the giants of American politics and civil rights notwithstanding.
ReplyDeleteI agree with others here -- why not preserve the simplicity of the Manhattan street grid with the naming added on (i.e., "8th Ave" and "Frederick Douglass Blvd" should both be shown).
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