A New York City neighbourhood long known informally as “Little Thailand” may soon get official name recognition under a bill passed by the city council.
The official designation for a stretch of Woodside Avenue, between 76th and 79th streets in the Elmhurst neighbourhood in the borough of Queens, was one of a number of renaming proposals adopted by the council this week. The area is well known throughout the city for a large number of Thai restaurants and other businesses.
Other proposals approved by the council included the renaming of Macdonald and Church in Brooklyn as Little Bangladesh, and Brighton Beach Avenue and Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn as Ukrainian Way, the local news site Pix11 reported.
In all, the bill covered 78 thoroughfares and public places throughout the city. It will be sent to Mayor Eric Adams for final approval.
Shekar Krishnan, a council member who sponsored the bill, represents the part of Queens that would be renamed Little Thailand.
“The small businesses that are there and the events that are held there, really reflect the beauty and the energy of our Thai community not just of Jackson Heights and Elmhurst, but across Queens and throughout our city,” he said. “Little Thailand Way is a very fitting name for this street.”
Another part of Queens was recently renamed to honour the Guyanese community. In Brooklyn, a subway stop was renamed to honour Haitian heritage.