Don't 'Sully' Our Street: NYC Board Rejects Hero Pilot Road Honor

NEW YORK CITY — The "Miracle on the Hudson" hero pilot's name won't sully a Manhattan street.

A recent bid to rename part of West 50th Street in Hell's Kitchen after Capt. Chelsey "Sully" Sullenberger got unanimously splashed by Community Board 4 members.

The gaggle of board members all agreed that Sullenberger is a hero, but he didn't have enough connection to the street itself.

"This didn’t happen on 50th Street," one board member said during the board's Sept. 20 transportation committee meeting, "it happened in the river."

Sullenberger piloted US Airways Flight 1549 to a safe splashdown in the Hudson River on Jan. 15, 2009, after the plane struck a flock of Canada geese, damaging its engines.

The proposal to rename part of 50th Street near 11th Avenue came from Linda Lipman, a publicist for Sullenberger with Hiltzk Strategies.

She said it would be a great way to commemorate Sullenberger act of heroism's 15th anniversary.

"I know that spot on 50th Street where the plane landed would mean a lot," she told board members.

But that didn't sway board members.

They variously argued — all while acknowledging Sullenberger's feat — that street renamings were meant to honor neighbors who made contributions to the neighborhood, that a public pier near the USS Intrepid would be a better spot and that perhaps a memorial should go in Hudson River Park.

"Or, if you’re able to petition the governor and rename the Hudson, happy to do that too," one board member jokingly said.

The board's decision to reject the proposal was first reported by W42ST.

Watch the board's meeting here.