Sonny Carson Supporters Commandeer a Brooklyn Park
Supporters of a movement to rename a street after a black activist who famously called himself "anti-white" posted signs bearing Sonny Carson's name at Linden Park in Brooklyn and declared it will henceforth be known as "Sonny Abubadika Carson Park."
In an unofficial ceremony at the park entrance on the corner of Linden Boulevard and Vermont Street in eastern Brooklyn yesterday, a City Council member of Brooklyn, Charles Barron, an Assemblyman of Brooklyn, Karim Camara, and other community activists unveiled the new park signs and used green plastic ties to strap them to the fence that surrounds the park. The chief of staff for Senator Eric Adams of Brooklyn, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, also attended the renegade renaming.
"This is official," Mr. Barron said. "This is official, because I am an official."
Mr. Barron did not receive permission from the Parks Department to put up the signs, which measured approximately 11 inches by 14 inches. A spokesman for the department, Warner Johnston, wrote in an e-mail message that yesterday's park renaming is not recognized by the city and the signs will be removed. Mr. Barron said he would mount more signs if the others are confiscated.
Mr. Barron and others at the park also are backing a separate proposal to rename a portion of Gates Avenue in Brooklyn after Carson.
The council is scheduled to vote on 51 proposed street and intersection names on Wednesday. Carson's name originally was on the list but was pulled after the Parks Committee voted against including his name.
On Wednesday, Council Member Albert Vann of Brooklyn will propose amending the bill to include Carson. At least 20 members of the council's Black, Latino, and Asian Caucus have agreed to support the amendment, Mr. Barron said. It will take 26 votes to amend the bill. Carson supporters will rally at City Hall before the vote.
Mayor Bloomberg waded into the charged debate yesterday, saying he could not think of someone less deserving than Sonny Carson to have a New York City street renamed in his honor.
"That's probably the worst idea anybody in the City Council has had in recent memory," he said.
Carson, who died in 2002, led racially charged protests, including a boycott of groceries stores owned by Korean-Americans in Brooklyn after a black customer allegedly was mistreated at a store. He was arrested on charges related to a murder in the 1970s and was later sentenced to seven years in prison for kidnapping.
When once asked whether he was anti-Semitic, he responded that he was "anti-white."
In eastern Brooklyn and among many black leaders in the city, Carson is regarded as a hero and a champion for education and civil rights. Carson supporters clustered under the leafy trees lining Linden Park yesterday said the council and Parks Department should not determine the names they can and cannot write on their street and park signs.
Mr. Barron, a former Black Panther, said Speaker Christine Quinn's support for renaming a street after Al Jolson, a singer who often performed in black face, deflates her argument against Carson. Ms. Quinn has said Carson does not belong on a street sign because he was divisive and had a history of anti-white statements.
"If it's good for Mammy, it's good for Sonny," Mr. Barron said.
