Manhattan University and local Riverdale community members celebrated the name change
NICKY LOMBARDO / THE QUADRANGLE
Barbara Vasquez, Editor-in-Chief
Manhattan College Parkway has been co-named Manhattan University Way, made official with a public ceremony this Thursday, Sept. 3.
Manhattan University Way will not replace Manhattan College Parkway; instead, both street names will refer to the same intersection. Manhattan University (MU) President Frederick Bonato explained the reasoning behind the co-naming.
“Co-naming the street is not a compromise,” Bonato said. “It is the most accurate way to do this, because this place is both.”
This street has been named Manhattan College Parkway since 1953, when it was first changed from Spuyten Duyvil Parkway to honor the university’s 100th anniversary. Aileen Ryan, a local Bronx activist and former New York State politician, spearheaded the original movement. Her son, Jim Ryan, showed his support for the co-naming in her honor.
Neighbors on Manhattan College Parkway will be able to keep their established addresses, while the change will eliminate the discrepancy between the university’s name and the street it sits on. Bonato further explained the decision to retain both names.
“There are many thousands of people walking around this city with a Manhattan College diploma, and they are not ‘former’ anything,” Bonato said. “They are Jaspers, and this is still their campus. We are also a university now with three schools, more than 100 programs, and students who come here from all over the world. Both of those things are true at the same time, now the street will say so.”
This co-naming was celebrated by both MU and nearby Bronx communities. Faculty, students, Bronx Community Board 8 members and New York City Council Member Eric Dinowitz were all in attendance at the ceremony.
Chair of the history, political science and international studies department, Margaret Groarke, Ph.D., has taught at MU for 27 years and has lived in the North Bronx community for longer than that. As someone who emphasizes community involvement, the MU professor took the lead on having the street name altered.
“In New York City, to get a street co-named you need the support of the local community board and the city council,” Groarke said. “Because I am somewhat active in the community, I felt like that was a place I could help. I knew a lot of the people who would get people to think about allowing us to do this.”
Bob Bender, vice chair of Bronx Community Board 8, spoke on the issue and said it was more of a “formality” than anything else.
“There was never any question that we would go along with it …” Bender said. “…We are proud to have MU in Community Board 8. Proud of the students, the faculty, the alumni. It is a great institution. Congratulations on the renaming as MU and on the co-naming of the street.”
This co-naming of this street sign represents more than simply renaming the block. For some community members, like religious studies and philosophy professor Mehnaz Afridi, Ph.D., the change is symbolic of the university’s values and reenergization as well.
“Today, as we rename this parkway, the Manhattan University Way, we are not simply changing a street sign,” Afridi said. “We are naming what we hope every person who walks or drives this path will feel: that they are seen, that they belong and they are welcome here… That is our mission made visible: dignity, justice and welcome for anyone who passes this way.”
Even with its long process, this change is also representative of what can be possible for those who speak out in their community. For Groarke, taking action achieves change.
“I want students to learn in my class that you can advocate for change, and what are the most effective ways to do that?” Groarke said. “We can all do some part to make our campus or our community or the country a better place than it is, in whatever way we think that should be. We all have different values and interests, but there are ways to say, ‘here’s something that should be better than it is, and I’m going to help make it happen.’”