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What a strange way for Community Board 5 to decide whether to name 53rd Street at 8th Avenue after Jerry Orbach.
Last night, the board's notoriously difficult committee approved 3-2 in favor of naming the street after the great late actor. And then the full board voted in favor - 18-17 - as well. But, as the NY Times explains, "that slim margin was not enough to qualify as an approval because the votes in favor were not a majority of the votes cast." We call for a mistrial! And we're not sure how 18 of 35 votes isn't a majority - do community boards have quorums?
The video above by Kelly Loudenberg captures remarks from Sam Waterston (special guest appearance!), committee members and a citizen (and some heated debate), plus interviews with Jerry's son, Tony, and wife, Elaine, after the committee had voted in favor but before the full board meeting. Elaine told us:
"It's the man, it's not just what he did as an actor. Which is great in itself. He gave a lot to so many in so many areas. That's why that street sign doesn't need any explanation as to who he is - unless they put 'Lennie Briscoe.'"After the meeting, the Orbachs were disappointed; Elaine Orbach told the Times, "As Jerry would say, onwards and sideways."
But don't fear, fellow Orbachiphiles: The City Council has the final say on whether a street is renamed. Find your City Council member and let them know you'd like the street named after Jerry.
Check out our posts on Jerry Orbach. Some favorites: When we saw him at a panel about Law & Order (with Dick Wolf and Commissioner Ray Kelly), visiting the Law & Order set, seeing Jerry filming his last scenes, and when thinking about the best Law & Order casts.
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slick motion graphic!
Look, I liked Jerry and his role as Briscoe was great in L&O. I didn't see his theater performances but I assume they are good as well. But isn't the criteria for naming a street after the departed getting too relaxed? There has to be some other people who's more "worthy" to name a street after than Jerry. I know worthiness is subjective, but we can all agree that native NYers born and bred should be ahead of non NYers, so at least Jerry should come before James Brown or Peter Jennings, who already has a street named after him.
If a quorum were needed they could not have gone ahead with the vote.
The vote was 18 yea, 17 nay, with one abstention, which is technically more like a "tied" vote, not a majority.
Any idea who abstained or why? Seems like a silly vote to recuse yourself from.