Manhattan street name honors Jewish Community Relations Council of New York on its 50th

On a beautiful autumn day, leaders of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York and multiple high-ranking elected officials gathered at the corner of Second Avenue and East 47th Street in Manhattan to unveil a sign co-naming the corner Jewish Community Relations Council of New York Way.

“The street sign carries a simple but powerful message. We are here, we belong here and we’re not going anywhere,” said Mark Treyger, the JCRC’s CEO.

“Our story is about more than antisemitism,” he told attendees. “We are the descendants of immigrants, refugees, Holocaust survivors, who helped build the city in this country that we love so deeply.”

The Jewish community has “helped shape New York and America,” he said. “The street co-naming is a small but meaningful recognition of those contributions.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and retiring Rep. Jerrold Nadler sat at the front of the modest-sized crowd at the unveiling. New York Attorney General Letitia James told attendees that she will “always stand with the Jewish community … because combating antisemitism cannot be the responsibility of the Jewish people alone.”

Julie Menin, the first Jewish speaker of the New York City Council, and Virginia Maloney, a City Council member whose district includes the street corner, co-sponsored the legislation to co-name the corner for the JCRC, which required City Council approval. Both attended the event, as did Eric Dinowitz, chair of the council’s Jewish caucus and co-chair of its bipartisan task force on Jew-hatred.

NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Comptroller Mark Levine also attended the event.

Levine was greeted with warm applause, and there was no mention of the imbroglio over his decision not to resume city investments in Israel Bonds.

The corner, in Turtle Bay up the block from Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza near UN headquarters. The plaza is often the site of political demonstrations and protests. The JCRC has gathered Jews and others there frequently to rally in support of Israel, to demand the release of the Gaza hostages and, in an earlier era, to demand freedom for Soviet Jews.

“Over the years, we’ve gathered here, near Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza, in moments of crisis, moments of solidarity and moments when our collective voices needed to be heard,” Treyger said at the event.

After the event, which also marked the 50th anniversary of the JCRC, Treyger said that “at a moment when antisemitism too often defines the conversation about Jewish life, this sign is also a reminder that our story is so much bigger than the hatred directed at us.”

“It is a story of extraordinary contributions, community, partnership and hope,” he said. “That story is still being written.”

Dean Belmont, who lives in an apartment building nearby, came to see what the fuss was about at the ceremony.

“Sadly, it won’t take long for someone to graffiti over the street sign,” he said. —JNS