New York City has a practice called co-naming streets. Co-Naming is where the street retains its existing name – often those numbered streets – and given an extra name to honor an individual or organization. The legislation to co-name streets is brought by New York City Council usually twice a year and in 2023 so far a whopping 241 "thoroughfares and public places" have been co-named, and this volume has been going on for years.
So, if you've ever wanted to tell people you live on Sesame Street, you can, you just need to move to 62rd Street near Broadway (right by Central Park) where the Sesame Street sign was installed back in 2019.
One of the interesting challenges with this practice however is that the United States Postal Service (USPS) does not usually incorporate co-names into its mailing addresses, so when sending mail it's important NOT to use these honorific street names in your of your address.
But as you can see from the photo, both signs are of the same style so how would you know which one to use? Especially if you are new to the area, maybe you are staying at an AirBnB or Hotel and having food delivered and couldn't find Sesame Street in the app? But if you took a Taxi to your lodging and the navigation system recognized the co-name, you would be feeling a little confused why the address sometimes exists and sometimes doesn't.
#AWM #addressing #geoaddressing #conaming
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Mike Ashmore
Senior Director Product Management
Precisely Software Inc.
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