Today, the City of New York officially honored comedian George Carlin (RIP) by naming a street after him. Carlin, a native New Yorker, grew up on the 500 block of West 121st Street in Morningside Heights and referenced the neighborhood in some of his stand-up. The Corpus Christi Church, which represents an institution Carlin mocked frequently, lies on the same block and (unsurprisingly) opposed the street change, but the 2011 petition by comic Kevin Bartini eventually gathered around 10,000 signatures. The two groups compromised in 2012, agreeing to turn the nearby 400 block of 121st Street into George Carlin Way.
While the city kept it classy, Carlin probably would have preferred a sign commemorating the Seven Dirty Words that got him arrested in 1972.
(Lead Photoshop: Rhett Jones/ ANIMAL New York Photo: Caroline’s On Broadway)
