Council Member Objects to New Street Names

No more naming streets like Joey Ramone Place, Peter Jennings Way, Bob Marley Boulevard, or Jerry Orbach Way. If one City Council member gets his way, the commemorative naming of streets would stop because it's too much of a time waster for the council. James Oddo, the council's minority leader from Staten Island, wants to give the Department of Transportation the authority to approve new street names. Currently, the City Council has to approve the names after they are approved by local community boards. We find it shocking that a politician wants to give away power.

The Sun finds that the council approved 127 new street and place names in 2006 and it approved another 50 this May, including that of Jerry Orbach Way, which had a hard path to being named. And we haven't heard anything more about Kurt Vonnegut Way. Oddo's idea to make the change came during the debate to name a street after Sonny Carson (it was voted down) when many councilmembers wondered why they were involved in the naming process.

The bill, which Mr. Oddo doesn't think will have too much support, would still allow the council to have hearings on names if 6 or more members wanted. The Gotham Gazette had a nice piece on how street names come about earlier this year.

Photo of Joe Louis Plaza by wallyg on flickr

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By tien mao in News on September 6, 2007 1:30 PM

Comments [rss]

Reflect

Like dogs pissing on a lampost marking territory.

guest

Does anyone remember the old Chris Rock joke about anywhere named after Martin Luther King, Jr.? Or the Brooklyn street named for a Nazi sympathizer that adjoined a Holocaust memorialof some kind?

If I were a Council member, I'd be nostalgically sad to lose this often-hilarious exercise in gallows humor and irony.

guest

I have to agree with Mr. Oddo on this one . Some of those Street name changes are way over the top ! Add to the fact that they are confusing as hell to say someone looking for a specific address on one of the streets with a name change . It's a waste of money, & in the long run creates more problems then it solves ! Granted renaming a street for someone of importance is a good thing, Just not anyone ! Example : "Martin Luther King Jr. Expressway/Blvd./Avenue/Street/Road/Place/Lane/Drive/Court/Alley/ OR Square . That's a name worthy of a street name change . 7th. Avenue aka "Fashion Avenue" is appropriately named . If the name were changed to Fashion Avenue that would an example of an inappropriate change ! Posted by; "Still Not Amused"

guest

Oh, pleze. Let's end the idiotic street naming. It's a waste of time and money. I'm sure there are better ways of honoring those people.

schadenfreudian mensch

"does city council do anything BUT waste time?"

That's what they do best and it's just a part-time job for them that they're wasting but get a full-time salary.

guest

The current government wastes time and money because that's what fascist government is all about. True government would not have time nor money to waste.

guest

Waste of thime, what aboutthe waste of money? I am curious to see how much $ is spent when they rename a street (especially long ones requiring many signs). Also an idiotic thing to put the councilmen/women names of trash cans, signs, etc. They change all the time so why waste my freakin money????

Nick S

does city council do anything BUT waste time?

jimmylegs

whoa, the city council doesn't want to devote their precious hours to 'time wasting' efforts? i don't have anything against street-naming but i like the precedent it will set.

other_islander

why, just because staten island has no one to name any streets after?

Yeah, it's not like Staten Island was ever home to lots of cops and firefighters, many of whom died in service, or a war hero.

Some SI jokes are funny, some are sadly accurate, but can we lay off the mindless, idiotic, knee-jerk comments?

guest

He introduced this law to get all sorts of press so someone will name a street after him.

guest

why, just because staten island has no one to name any streets after?

whatever.

either way, yeah, street naming is a stupid waste of time and for all that waste it accomplishes almost zilch.