Tribeca Transforms Franklin Street Into Aretha Tribute

TRIBECA, NY — New Yorkers temporarily renamed Tribeca's Franklin Street station in memory of the late Aretha Franklin.

Straphangers scrawled "Aretha" above several "Franklin Street" markers on 1 train platforms and plastered a staircase with "Aretha makes me feel like a natural woman” in honor of the Queen of Soul who died Thursday in Detroit at 76-years-old.

It's no wonder the icon had New Yorkers saying a little pray for the late singer, said one Manhattanite.

"She was an unforgettable icon and her music was just the sound track of my life," said Marilyn Brown, 67, who schlepped from Harlem with her niece to see the makeshift memorial after the pair saw the tribute on social media. "I think we're all deeply moved by her passing and New Yorkers come up with some creative ways to say goodbye to the people we love."

Even as some of the memorial graffiti was removed from the station, including banners that read "respect," a steady trickle of commuters stopped to admire what remained Thursday evening.

In Brooklyn, subway riders honored the singer at Bed-Stuy's Franklin Avenue subway station when one local artist added Aretha's named to signs on the upper and lower platforms of the C line.

Transit officials had no immediate plans to remove the station tributes.

The MTA's official comment was: "R-E-S-P-E-C-T."

Photos courtesy of Caroline Spivack/Patch