Martin Luther King Jr. Place: Small and Often Forgotten

Since 1974, the short block in Bed Stuy between Marcy and Tompkins formerly known as Floyd Street has borne the honor of being called Martin Luther King Jr. Place. As The New York Times points out today, it's "not much of a block," but it's all that Brooklyn's got. "I always wondered why they named a little street for him and not a big street,” said Floyd Moore, who had to give up bragging rights to this block when the name change happened. While other cities have grand boulevards named after the famous civil rights leader and Manhattan has 125th Street, this modest stretch with a few small apartment buildings and a concrete park will have to do for Brooklyn. And it is a source of pride for some who live there, despite reports of frequent drug and crime activity. Still, don't count on your taxi driver knowing where it is. “I say, ‘Between Myrtle Avenue and Park Avenue,’ ” said Kassen Yafi, who co-owns the supermarket on the corner. “If you say ‘Martin Luther King Place,’ they don’t know it.”
‘Not Much of a Block,’ but It’s Named for a King [NYT] GMAP

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Really pitiful, actually.

What I'd like to see someday is a main street that crosses many neighborhoods named for MLK, not just a street that is only in Bed Stuy, or some other predominantly black neighborhood. Martin Luther King Jr. is an American hero, not just a black hero, and naming a street after him in Brooklyn should be a source of pride for any community that that street passes through.

In the long run, however, street names are great, but most people still refer to the street by the old names. What's more important is life in those streets - safety, successful commercial ventures and well kept residential blocks, beauty and enhanced quality of life. These are all goals that we all strive for, and MLK certainly worked and died for that to be possible for all of us. This holiday should remind us that this fight goes on, but great change is still possible. Tomorrow is proof of that.

Posted by: Montrose Morris at January 19, 2009 10:48 AM

The funny thing is....

Well actually not funny.

All the streets named after an African American icon are usually some of the worst there are.

Sometimes it feels like a conspiracy theory.

Posted by: Crooklyn at January 19, 2009 11:30 AM

Fulton Street ----> MLK Boulevard? Seems natural enough to me.

Posted by: dixiecupdrinking at January 19, 2009 11:50 AM

Fulton St is already subtitled for Harriet Ross Tubman.

www.forgotten-ny.com

Posted by: Kevin Walsh at January 19, 2009 12:46 PM

I take it, Crooklyn, that you are saying that the streets chosen for renaming are crappy streets, not that the people chosen are the worst people.

I'd have to largely disagree with that. The street chosen is usually tied to the person that is being memorialized. Examples: Gardner C. Taylor Blvd is Marcy Ave, near Concord Baptist Church in Bed Stuy, where the Rev. Taylor was pastor for many, many years. Mother Gaston Blvd in Brownsville/ENY for the same general reason. Fulton St. traverses a huge swath of traditionally African-American communities, so a worthy choice for Harriet Tubman.

I don't see too much of a conspiracy here, just local streets.

Posted by: Montrose Morris at January 19, 2009 1:31 PM

My first two years as a teacher were at IS 33, which is on the corner of Tompkins and MLK Place. Ah, the memories...

Crooklyn... isn't that a Chris Rock bit? Some comedian does a bit about all streets named after MLK being the deadliest/most rundown/crime filled/etc of their respective cities. I thought it was Chris Rock.

Posted by: christopher at January 19, 2009 4:12 PM

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January 19, 2009

Martin Luther King Jr. Place: Small and Often Forgotten

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