Dear NYC: Clean these Signs!

This is just embarassing: Forgotten-NY takes the time to document the remaining Avenue of the Americas signs up and down Sixth Avenue, and they all look like crap. Rusted, dirty, and damaged. This is not the message we want to be sending to the world, particularly in these uncertain times. How much would it cost to repair these signs to brand-new condition? A couple of hundred-thousand? Well worth it, if you ask us.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jake Dobkin in News on December 19, 2005 9:36 AM

Comments [rss]

larry

I work on Madison... decided to take a walk. They should call wherever I walked to (6th and 28th) avenue-of-the-scummiest-looking-people-I-have-ever-seen -avenue. I have walked through gangster, ghetto neighborhoods... this was the worst. They need to clean up a lot more then some stupid signs. Bad Snorer

Eliot

The other evening, I noticed that the relevant signage at Canal Street on the A/C/E all reads "Avenue of the Americas".

Kevin Walsh

>>>Saying "Avenue of the Americas" is as much of a tourist tip-off as "Hyoostun" street or "Green Witch" Village, which I heard the other day.

Sometimes I think NYC has these strange pronunciations so the natives can tell apart the out-of-towners...

www.forgotten-ny.com

Tom

If we're going to call it A of the A's, shouldn't we call west 84th street Edgar Allen Poe Place? Is 44th and 2nd really Kudirat Abiola Way?
Saying "Avenue of the Americas" is as much of a tourist tip-off as "Hyoostun" street or "Green Witch" Village, which I heard the other day.

jake

in fact, i walked down the avenue of the americas just this morning. talking about sixth avenue that way makes me feel more international and cool. i wear a cape for the same reason.

Brightliner

Hey, Toby, don't look now, but Jake himself has written here before that he says he works on the "Avenue of the Americas."

papercutninja

A couple hundred-thousand? Nah, it'll be taken care of by the DOT. Those union workers will have a budget of $2.5 million and will take 7 years to complete.

me

hey jake, whaddya say you and i head up to 6th avenue and put some "street art" on those signs?

Toby

Personally I like the medallions in the "abandoned in place" style - it has a certian je ne sais quoi.

Nobody except for tourists and building owners who want to sound pretentious call 6th Avenue "Avenue of the Americas". It's the 6th Avenue IND subway and all the subway signage says 6th Avenue. "Avenue of the Americas" should be relegated to the blue ceremonial sign and not get full green sign double billing with 6th Avenue.

MT

I agree with Publius. HAs anyone ever asked a cab to take them to Avenue of the Americas? It was just a failed PR stunt from the LaGuardia administration. Let's relegate it to the quaint NY history file.

Dave H.

Rusty, dirty, and damaged is just the overcritical man's way of describing "patina" and "rustic". Stop being such a killjoy Jake.

Publius

Wouldn't it be better to just send the remaining signs to the Museum of the City of New York and end the stupid pretense of using a name that never caught on for Sixth Avenue?