Buzz
The stories
behind the
honorary street
names in the
East Village and
Lower East Side
BY BOB KRASNER
Back in 2003, the corner of
2nd St and the Bowery became
‘Joey Ramone Place’.
If you’re a New Yorker, you know
who Joey is. And if you don’t,
please don’t admit it in public.
There are almost 1,700 streets in
NYC with honorary names, the
results of City Council enacted
bills that have been signed by the
Mayor.
While many of the names will
be familiar (we hope), such as Bob
Marley, Gilda Radner, Humphrey
Bogart and Harriett Tubman, there
will be many others that make even
the best repositories of trivia say,
“Who the heck is that?”
The East Village and Lower
East Side are fi lled with examples
of luminaries being honored, from
concert promoter Bill Graham-
near the former site of his legendary
Fillmore East – to champion of
avant-garde theater Ellen Stewart,
on the street where her beloved La
Mama theater still resides.
But who are all those other
names hanging onto the poles
between the street numbers and
the one-way signs? Some are community
leaders, some are fi refi ghters
or offi cers who died in the line
of duty. Victims of 9/11 have been
noted, as well as activists such as
Frieda Zames, whose name graces
East 4th Street between 1st Avenue
and Avenue A. Zames was the
president of Disabled In Action of
New York. She fought for disabled
access to buses and subways, as
well as polling places.
Further downtown you can
fi nd Hy Genee Way, named for
the late president and spiritual
leader of Kehila Kedosha Janina
Synagogue, which is the only Greek
Jewish Romaniote synagogue in
the Western Hemisphere. Back in
the EV, Miriam Friedlander Way
occupies East 6th St, between 1st
and 2nd Avenues. Friedlander
represented the East Village and
Lower East Side in the New York
City Council from 1974 to1991.
She was an advocate for gay and
lesbian rights, women, tenants, and
homelessness issues.
East 9th Street between Avenues
B and C is a testimonial to
Armando Perez, co-founder of The
Real Great Society, a community
empowerment organization that
was dedicated to stopping gang
violence.
The intersection of Stanton
Street and Pitt Street has been
designated Marie Christopher
Way to honora respected
community leader. A member of
the Citizens Committee for New
York and a founding member of
the Alliance for a Drug Free City,
Christopher was a consultant for
dozens of community organizations
and fought for affordable
and sustainable housing and
economic justice in Manhattan’s
Lower East Side.
Another woman who made a
difference in her neighborhood
was Mary Spink, a former addict
who turned her life around after
doing time for dealing drugs. Mary
Spink Wayoccupies thesoutheast
corner of East 2nd Street and
Avenue A, commemorating her
work advocating for low income
tenants as well as her helping
many organizations, including
the Lower East Side Girls Club,
and the East Village Community
Coalition.
One East Village icon who has
yet to be honored is the recently
PHOTOS BY BOB KRASNER
deceased Jimmy Webb, who was
the manager and main buyer for
the pioneering St. Marks punk
rock clothing store ‘Trash and
Vaudeville’ for twenty years,
before starting his own shop “I
Need More’ on Orchard Street. A
petition is in the works atChange.
org to remedy that and over 5,000
names have already been collected.
Besides his contribution to
the world of punk, Webb deserves
the honor for being one of those
people who just radiated good
vibes, treating everyone he met
like they were special and simply
making the world a better place.
You can fi nd the Jimmy Webb
petition here:www.change.org/p/
mayor-bill-de-blasio-tell-nyc-torename
the-block-where-trashn
vaudeville-was-jimmy-webbplace.
Info on all the honorees
throughout the boroughs is
compiled here: http://nycstreets.
info
16 January 21, 2021 Schneps Media
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