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NYC's 'Thierry Henry Way' may be rare street naming for a living person
By
David Brand
Published Apr 19, 2026
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Yu Chun Christopher Wong/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
By
David Brand
Published Apr 19, 2026
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New York City has more than 6,300 miles of roadway, but only tiny slivers named for people who are able to take selfies with their own street signs.
The vast majority of the city’s thousands of co-named streets honor the deceased. But with the World Cup fast approaching, another living legend may join the Beastie Boys and baseball legend Mariano Rivera in the pedestrian pantheon. A city councilmember from Manhattan wants to temporarily rename the intersection of West 50th Street and Sixth Avenue as “Thierry Henry Way” after the 48-year-old retired French soccer star, who has spent most of the last 16 years in the five boroughs.
Councilmember Virginia Maloney introduced the name change legislation on Thursday. The official renaming would last until Nov. 1.
Henry, who is very much alive and well and living part-time in Lower Manhattan, did not respond to phone calls and messages about the potential designation. A spokesperson for CBS Sports and Paramount+, where Henry now works as a studio analyst, said he was not available to talk.
If the designation is approved, Francophone pronunciation will be key to avoid any Houston/HOW-ston-style confusion. It’s tee-eh-REE, not “theory.” On-REE, not HEN-ree.
Maloney said she thought the name would “add momentum to the Cup as fans come to watch the games” at a festival planned for the Rockefeller Center area but has not discussed the designation with Henry himself.
The proposed name isn’t without some international intrigue.
Maloney co-chairs the City Council’s Irish Caucus, and Henry is despised by many Irish soccer fans who still recall how he used his hand to control the ball and pass to a teammate in a 2009 playoff match against Ireland. The violation went unnoticed by the referee and set France up for a playoff-winning goal that blocked Ireland from the 2010 World Cup.
A poster of Thierry Henry in Spain shortly after he admitted in 2009 to controlling the ball with his hand in a World Cup qualifying match against Ireland. Thierry said the move was "instinctive."
JOSEP LAGO/AFP via Getty Images
Most viewers — especially the Irish ones — saw the clear handball, and Ireland still hasn’t returned to a World Cup, including this year’s tournament set to take place in New Jersey and other parts of North America.
At the time, the Guardian described Henry as “public enemy numéro un” for Irish fans. Irish men’s magazine Zoo later named Henry its “most hated person of the year.”
After the match, Henry said the game should be replayed as the “fairest solution.” He acknowledged the offense and blowback in 2024 podcast interview.
“I wasn’t proud of it. I’m still not proud of it,” Henry said.
Maloney said she was still learning about the incident but that Henry deserved the recognition.
“Politicians are about trying to find unity in things,” Maloney said. “Who knew honoring a soccer legend would double as international diplomacy? But here we are.”
Irish fans in the five boroughs say they are willing to forgive, if not forget the moment.
“Through Irish eyes, this would be an act of supreme forgiveness,” said Ray O’Hanlon, editor of the Manhattan-based newspaper Irish Echo.
He described Henry as an “incredible footballer” but said the “infamous” match still stings.
“I’ll give it a nod, but I'll keep walking,” he said of the proposed street sign.
Henry made New York City his home in 2010, when he began a five-season stint with the Red Bulls of Harrison, New Jersey. The prolific striker previously played for European giant Barcelona but is most remembered for his eight years at London club Arsenal, where he scored 174 goals in 254 league games and led the “Invincibles” to the only undefeated season in Premier League history. He also appeared in four World Cups, including France’s first championship in 1998.
He now works as a studio pundit during CBS Sports and Paramount soccer coverage. He wouldn’t be the first person on the show to get a New York City landmark. His sidekick, English footballer Jamie Carragher, already has a bar in the Financial District named after him.
And while Henry famously never won a Ballon d’Or award as the world’s best player, he may be on the verge of an even more exclusive prize.
Only a handful of New York City roadways honor a living person. Among them: “Rivera Avenue” outside Yankee Stadium, named for Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera, and “Beastie Boys Square” at the intersection of Ludlow and Rivington streets on the Lower East Side. Two members of the hip-hop trio are still living. The city also erected temporary street signs celebrating active Knicks players during last year’s playoff run.
The Department of Transportation referred questions about street name rules to the City Council, which approves the monikers — usually after local community boards recommend names, often with their own strict criteria. Council spokesperson Benjamin Fang said the legislative body has approved fewer than five street names for living people over the past 15 years, and that its guidelines allow it only on rare occasions.
Other local soccer enthusiasts hailed the Henry honorific. David Kilpatrick, a past president of the Society for American Soccer History, said he’s thrilled.
“I am an Arsenal fan and I have cheered Thierry Henry for years, so I am of course happy about it,” Kilpatrick said. “It was great to see Henry work his magic in the local area.”
But Kilpatrick said Henry has had far less of an impact on American soccer compared to another subject of a potential street renaming: Pelé.
On Thursday, Councilmember Shanel Thomas-Henry of Queens proposed renaming the intersection of Shea Road and Meridian Road after the Brazilian soccer star, who died in 2022.
Pelé, widely regarded as the greatest soccer player of all-time, spent three seasons with the New York Cosmos, where his appearance sold out the cavernous Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey and helped popularize the sport in the United States.
Kilpatrick, who also serves as official team historian for the New York Cosmos franchise, said the site of the renaming was in some ways fitting.
The intersection is today adjacent to Arthur Ashe Stadium and Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, which will host another World Cup fan fest.
Five decades ago, it was also home to the Singer Bowl, a multipurpose facility that Cosmos owner Warner Communications attempted to convert into a soccer-specific stadium. The effort failed and the venue was instead redeveloped for U.S. Open tennis matches.
“It’s ironic,” Kilpatrick said. “Pelé would have been playing his home games there in the 1970s.”
Today, construction is underway on Etihad Park in Willets Point, Queens, a 25,000-seat stadium that will become home to local Major League Soccer franchise NYCFC.
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World Cup 2026
new york city
David Brand
David is a reporter covering housing for Gothamist and WNYC. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 908-310-3960.
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