Councilmember Yusef Salaam passed the legislation to have the street renamed.
HARLEM, NY — The corner of Fifth Avenue and 110th Street has a new name: Hon. Bill Perkins Way.
The street, which will be renamed in a ceremony on Oct. 4, is named after Bill Perkins, a dedicated public official who represented Harlem for decades, first as a City Councilmember from 1997-2005, and then as a State Senator from 2006, until he returned to City Council again in 2017 and served until 2020.
Perkins, who died in 2023 at age 74, started his political career as a community activist and tenant leader. During his time in office, he spearheaded the successful fight to pass the Childhood Lead Pain Poisoning Prevention Act of 2004 to protect kids from the deadly effects of lead in the home.
Perkins also has a long legacy of sticking his neck out for others.
He was the first New York elected official to support Barack Obama for president in 2008, he said, and Perkins was also one of the few elected leaders to stand with the Exonerated Central Park Five at the time of their arrest.
One of the five wrongfully accused men, Councilmember Yusef Salaam, passed the legislation to have the street renamed at Bill Perkins Way.
“I am delighted that the collective body of my husband’s work in the City Council and the State Senate is being recognized,” Pamela Green-Perkins, his wife of 24 years, said.
“I am eternally grateful to Councilmember Salaam for passing the legislation. I think that it is fortuitous that, based on the relationship with the Exonerated Five, and Yusef in particular, it is the Councilmember Salaam who authored this renaming.”
This legislation marks just one of the recent name changes in the area.
The Bill Perkins Way sign installations will come just two months after the nearby Harlem subway station at 110th Street and Central Park North was renamed for Civil Rights Movement leader and activist Malcolm X.
State Senator Cordell Cleare, who represents Harlem and was previously the chief of staff for Perkins, said Perkins will be remembered as a pioneer in New York City politics.
“He was a true maverick who worked tirelessly and with great intention to represent all of the people in his district,” Cleare said. “We must honor him, and remind ourselves, and future generations, that the struggle continues, and as long as it does, we have an obligation to press forward ever, backward never.”
The naming ceremony will take place at the intersection on Oct. 4 at 12:30 p.m.
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