New-York tribune., 1899-02-16
NO MORE "ROTLETARD." !"

The changing Of names Of streets Is seldom
10 he commended. In some recent cases in this
city II has been depl0rable and absurd. But in
ohoshinC the name Of "The Boulevard and
replacing it with "Broadway! the municipal
government has done an uncommonly good
thing. 1t has disturbed no historic associations
and derived no great name of honorable re-
memhrance. as its predecessors did in the cases
Of Laurens and Chatham streets. boulevard
Is an alien term. of recent application. and Of
unsavory memory in so far as il has any memo
rics at all IT came into use in this city IN the
corrupt Tweed times. when there was slavish
apng of foreign words and ways regardless Of
their fitness II should he done away with al
together. We have good English words and
names far more appropriate In the present
case "Broadway" is beyond all question the
proper name for the thOroughfare is both geo
graphically and historically a continuation and
n rart of the famous street Of that name which
begins at Bowling Green and parallels the Hud-
son River for miles. The action of the city au-
lhorites makes it Broadway as far as Spuyten
Duyvil Creek From that point on TO Dobbs
Ferry il has hitherto been known by that name.
From DobbS Ferry to Irvington il is commonly
called the Albany Post Road or Albany Road.
ough it is again Broadway. In Sing Sing it is
Hchland-ave and thence northward 1t is Al
bany Post Road. Highland Turnpike. and what
not II will be n good thing 10 have II all
known as Broadway in this city and the cities
and towns TO the north as far as the metropoli-
tan district properly extends, and beyond that
uniformly either Broadway or Albany Post
Road But AT any rate. let there he no more
boulevard" from this time forth
The good work may also well he extended in
other boroughs Of this city. There is n south
crn boulevard" in The Bronx. which should
not he permitted TO survive. The name pos
sesses no local distinction or significance what
ever Southern is scnscess. II il were
called Bronx Parkway. for example, that would
mean something. signify something, and he ex-
actly appropriate over in Brooklyn the need
Is for popular rather than for official reform.
The authorities have had the sound sense and
discretion 10 call the great driveways Of that
borough the Shore Road. the Ocean Parkway
the Eastern Parkway. etc. These are fine
euphonious names. perfectly descriptive Of the
things 10 which they are applied. But, unhap-
PLY. certain cheap and vulgar habit has
arisen of calling the Ocean Parkway and the
Eastern Parkway respectively the boulevard"
and the Eastern Boulevard,' and. beginning
with the ignorant and ;ll-bred. that usage has
extended until il now involves many people
Of ordinary intelligence and otherwise good
culture. II is bad enough TO have TO use
bad name which some one else has established.
But 10 impose n bad name upon something
which Is gifted with 4 cOnSpicuously good name
comes close IN being an unpardonable sin We
may never have an entirely perfect system Of
street nomenclature in NcwYOrk But at
least we can preserve whatever good features
the present system possesses. and soc to it
that Whatever changes are made shall be in
the direction Of Improvement And the eX7ul-
sion Of "Boulevard" from Manhattan and The
Bronx and the exclusion Of it from Brooklyn
will be fer good Of the most unmistakable kind.