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Actor’s Name Goes on One Side of the Street or the Other
New York City, New York—The story is about a local boy who makes good; the late actor Jerry (Law & Order) Orbach, came from New York City, actually the Bronx where he was born in 1935. He lived in various places but spent the last twenty-five years of his life in New York at the corner of 53rd Street and Eight Avenue.
And that’s where his widow, Elaine wants to put up a street sign with his name on it.
Street signs have gone up for non-native sons like Humphrey Bogart and newsman Peter Jennings. Mrs. Orbach has not had it so easy.
The proposed location for her husband’s street sign lies in an area of Manhattan controlled by the Community Board 5. The Board’s district includes Times Square, but they say they prefer not to clutter up their area of responsibility with signs.
“It’s no reflection of the person that is to be honored or the institution to be honored,” Mr. Parker told the New York Times. “It’s a concern about keeping the cityscape as clean and clear as possible.”
That remark from a group that oversees signs clutter in Times Square.
Mrs. Orbach will take her case before the 5’s appeals board. If she does not get satisfaction there, she can turn to New York’s City Council who can override the 5’s decision. The City Council has shown a propensity towards naming streets for well deserving and famous people.
No one has reached a decision about the street name, but, where Community Board 5’s authority ends, Community Board 4’s begins directly across the street, and Mrs. Orbach is willing to approach that organization with her appeal.
The City Council calls street renaming co-naming. It does not affect the real names of the streets on which they are hung.
—Bruce Amaro
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