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after an anonymous caller reported his business — and dozens of others in the area — to the city for having
placards without a permit. Photo by Steve Solomonson
Woody gets
his ‘Way’!
City votes to co-name Coney Island
street for beloved folk musician
BY JULIANNE MCSHANE
A Coney Island street will
soon bear the name of former
resident and folk-music legend
Woody Guthrie, after Council
unanimously voted in favor of
the tribute.
Local lawmakers on Dec.
20 approved co-naming Mermaid
Avenue between W. 35th
and W. 36th streets as “Woody
Guthrie Way,” recognizing the
neighborhood’s role in shaping
the performer’s contributions
to American music, according
to the local councilman.
“Woody Guthrie lived in
and loved Coney Island for
many years, and it inspired the
most prolifi c and productive
writing period of his life,” said
Mark Treyger, who pushed for
the co-naming along with Assemblyman
Steven Cymbrowitz
(D–Sheepshead Bay). “Current
and future residents and
visitors should always know
that Coney Island helped
shape the man, the musician,
and the legend. Woody, this
block is your block.”
The street is steps from
Guthrie’s former home at 3520
Mermaid Ave. — now the site
of senior housing — where he
lived with his wife, Marjorie,
and their four children from
1943 until the early 1950s, according
to neighborhood historian
Charlie Denson.
The Oklahoma-born musician
produced several works
during his years living in Sodom
by the Sea, such as the
poem “Mermaid’s Avenue,”
which celebrates the street’s
diversity, as well as children’s
ICON HONORED: The city last
month approved co-naming a Coney
Island street for American folk
legend — and former neighborhood
resident — Woody Guthrie.
Associated Press
songs inspired by his close relationship
with his kids, including
“Riding In My Car,”
“Why, Oh Why,” and “Howji
Do,” according to Denson.
Guthrie also cultivated
his appreciation for Jewish
faith and culture while living
in Coney, writing tunes including
“Hanuka Dance” and
“Happy Joyous Hanuka,” and
penning Yiddish poems with
his mother-in-law, poet Aliza
POLICING
PLACARDS
Bensonhurst civic leaders call for investigation
into complaints against small businesses’ signs
BY JULIANNE MCSHANE
The city must investigate a
recent rash of complaints alleging
that Bensonhurst business
owners lack permits for
their storefronts’ signage, according
to local civic leaders,
who said the uptick in such
allegations already cost momand
pop shopkeepers thousands
of dollars in fi nes.
A probe of the reports fi led
with the city’s 311 hotline is
necessary to ensure greedy
agents are not cashing in at
the small-business owners’
expense, according to the dis-
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