New York residents seek to co name street after Jimi Hendrix

Some New York City residents are petitioning to have a street in the Greenwich Village neighbourhood named in honour of musician Jimi Hendrix. (Photo by mirjoran/Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

NEW YORK — Some New York City residents are petitioning to have a street in the Greenwich Village neighbourhood named in honour of musician Jimi Hendrix.

Organizers of the petition are seeking to co-name West Eighth Street as “Jimi Hendrix Way.” The New York Times reports the organizers say they believe the co-naming also would attract visitors to an area fighting gentrification.

Richard Geist, a local store owner, says the block has “lost the magic and we want to bring that magic back.”

Hendrix opened Electric Lady Studios on the block just before his death in 1970.

To co-name a street, petitioners would have to make a proposal to the local community board before it could be proposed to the full New York City Council for a vote.