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Someone Made A Master List Of NYC's Honorific Street Signs
By
Ben Yakas
Published Feb 26, 2014
Modified Feb 26, 2014
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Feb 26, 2014
Modified Feb 26, 2014
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Sure, you know all about Joey Ramone Place, probably because you tried to steal the sign. But have you ever visited Lin Zexu Square, named after the commissioner appointed by the Chinese emperor in 1838 to eradicate opium? Or Granville T. Woods Way, named after the man who invented the third rail?
If you have no idea where either of those streets even are, you're in luck: Gilbert Tauber, a 78-year-old retired urban planner, has compiled a master list of all the honorific streets in NYC. According to the Times, Tauber is an urban history nut who used to work for the Museum of the City of New York and the city’s Convention and Visitors Bureau. Tauber essentially took it upon himself to catalogue nearly 1,600 honorific streets over the last three years.
You probably recognize many of the famous people who have been given the honor: Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, Humphrey Bogart, Gilda Radner, and George Gershwin, among many others. But there are also a lot of community organizers, local activists and neighborhood mainstays you've likely never heard of. And about 1/5 of the signs commemorate people who died in the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
Have fun exploring all the honorific streets here. And if you don't see someone you think deserves a street sign, you can always buy a custom one.
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Gilbert Tauber
honorary streets
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Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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