Uptown Environmentalist To Be Honored With Street Co-Naming

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — A Washington Heights environmentalist and political organizer will be honored with a street co-naming ceremony this weekend just a little more than one year after he died, local officials said.

St. Nicholas Avenue and West 169th Street will be co-named for late Community Board 12 vice chair Isiah "Obie" Bing on the afternoon of Saturday, March 16, according to a community board press release. The board voted in January of 2018, just day's after Bing's death, to request the honor.

"We recognized his many public service and professional commitments, contributions and accomplishments as a positive force in the community given his service with distinction," a Community Board 12 press release reads.

Bing served the board as vice chair, but was also an environmental adviser for local politicians and a founder of the Barack Obama Democratic Club of Upper Manhattan and Uptown Community Democrats.

He also worked as an engineer for the city Department of Buildings and Con Edison and testified in front of the State Assembly on the effects of pollution from the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant in Upper Manhattan.

"Community Board 12, Manhattan, believes that Obie's legacy lies in the profound effect he had on the countless men and women he mentored and his great environmental and infrastructure advocacy," a board press release reads.

The street co-naming ceremony will take place near Bing's former home at 3 p.m. on Saturday.