Borough May Change ‘Martha Washington Way’ to ‘Park Avenue’

A request by Fort Lee Redevelopment Associates (FLRA) that officials rename a road that borders the East parcel of Redevelopment Area 5 is likely to meet with borough approval. But the potential name change requested by the developer whose plan to build two 47-story residential towers is not without its critics.

The issue was up for discussion at the executive session of the Fort Lee Mayor and Council Thursday, and if comments by members of the governing body are any indication, Martha Washington Way will soon become Park Avenue.

“Interestingly, this request has spurred more debate than quite frankly I thought it would,” said Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, noting that such a change would have to be approved by borough ordinance.

Sokolich said that for people who are “more nostalgia oriented,” the name Martha Washington is part of the borough’s history, but that for FLRA, which is set to make a roughly $500 million investment in the project, the name Park Avenue is equally important.

“[The road] was named during a contest by students many, many moons ago,” Sokolich said. “However the counter to that is you have developers who are about to spend upwards of half a billion dollars who would like their address to have the word ‘Park’ in it, whether it’s from a marketing perspective or what have you.”

Sokolich added, “I am myself inclined to go along with renaming that road, and I would defer to the redeveloper on that.”

“I will commit to doing something else in town that we could name as ‘Martha Washington’—maybe even a road,” he said. “I’m very confident that we could … if we’re so inclined.”

Some residents have argued that “Park Avenue” sounds a little haughty and a bit too much like New York City.

Longtime Fort Lee resident Nina Levinson said “a lot of people” are opposed to renaming the road because “it makes us into New York City, and we don’t wish to become New York City.”

“We want to be a suburb,” said Levinson. “This is what people came to Fort Lee for—not to be in the city.”

But Sokolich countered that argument, saying, “As far as I’m concerned, if we’re able to extract and duplicate that which is best in New York City—those beautiful blocks and certain beautiful buildings and certain types of people and clientele and citizens—I’m all for going in that direction, not completely, but certain aspects of it.”

Resident Doug Sugarman, who has lived in the borough for 39 years, argued that many people moved to Fort Lee not to escape the big city, but because it’s so close. He noted that 350,000 cars a day pass through the borough because of that.

“I don’t want anybody to think that everybody that moved to Fort Lee 35 or 40 years ago moved to escape Manhattan,” Sugarman said. “We didn’t; we moved because of the proximity to Manhattan.”

Another argument in favor of renaming the road—one raised by more than one Council member Thursday—is that nobody lives on Martha Washington Way, and that the name change therefore wouldn’t require any residents to change their address.

“If it was going to cause a lot of inconvenience, I would be the first one to stand up and say no,” Sokolich said.

As for the significance of the name to Fort Lee, Councilman Armand Pohan said, “If I thought that Martha Washington had ever been within 150 miles of Fort Lee, I might have a different view, but the historical argument is not very strong.”

But Levinson pointed out that the historical value of the name is that “the kids of our schools decided on that name for that street.”

Sokolich concluded the discussion by saying he’s in favor of “deferring” to FLRA in large part because of the developer’s large investment in the community. But he also suggested holding off on the name change until the project actually begins.

“There’s no point in changing it if—God forbid—a hurdle is not overcome,” Sokolich said. “We’ll keep it as is. I don’t necessarily want to start changing street signs tomorrow. But once they start, let’s go to Park Avenue.”

Now we want to know what you think about changing “Martha Washington Way” to “Park Avenue.” Are you in favor of deferring to FLRA because of the developer’s investment, or do you think the name Martha Washington means something to Fort Lee? Take our poll, and tell us what you think in the comments section.