Staff Reporter: City authorities have decided to rename a street in New York, USA, as ‘Little Bangladesh Avenue’. The new renaming road will be officially inaugurated in Jamaica on February 21, International Mother Language Day.
Expatriate Bangladeshis are overjoyed at the news of the city authorities’ decision to rename ‘Little Bangladesh Avenue’ from Hillside Avenue to Homelon Avenue in the Jamaica area of New York. Many have commented that this decision of the city authorities in the face of long standing demands of expatriate Bangladeshis in New York will take the recognition of Bangladeshi, Bengali language and expatriate Bangladeshis in New York one step further.
Queens Jamaica is one of five boroughs or municipalities in New York City. However the other two boroughs, Brooklyn and the Bronx, are also home to a large number of Bangladeshis. A road in the Bronx has already been named ‘Bangla Bazar’. A similar process is underway in Brooklyn. However a large number of Bangladeshis are living in and around Queens Village, starting from Sutphin on Hillside Avenue in Queens Jamaica.
The bill on ‘Little Bangladesh Avenue’ was passed in December last year. Jim F. Gennaro a local councilor on the bill, took the initiative. At first, there was a demand to name a street in Jamaica after Bangladesh or prominent people of the country. For a long time local councilman Jim F. Gennaro has been lobbying the Queens Borough Hall and city administration for that claim. On behalf of the expatriates, two separate groups demanded that a street be named after Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the ‘Father of the Nation’, the architect of independent Bangladesh, and the martyred President Ziaur Rahman Birottam. Another group demanded that the road be named ‘Bangladesh’ so that no political division would arise. Finally, the naming of ‘Liton Bangladesh Avenue’ was finalized. Bill number INT 2477-2021. The bill was introduced in the city council by Jim F. Ginaro, a councilman in the local council district-24.
The New York City Council recently decided to rename 199 of the city’s streets after prominent individuals, organizations, and countries. This decision includes ‘Little Bangladesh Avenue’.
Meanwhile, a meeting of local community leaders was held at a restaurant on Hillside Avenue in Jamaica on Monday evening, February 14 to make the renaming of ‘Little Bangladesh Avenue’ a success. The meeting was held on the occasion of the inauguration of ‘Little Bangladesh Avenue’ on 21 February and the cooperation of all was sought to make the event a success. Mohammad Ali, Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, Dilip Nath, Saiful Islam, Fakhrul Islam Delwar, Syed Rabbi and Mohammad Tuhin spoke at the meeting.
BP/SM
