Queens Councilman Robert Holden has slammed the DOT after the agency misspelled the name of baseball legend Jackie Robinson on a road sign in Glendale (Photos Robert Holden via Facebook (L) DOT (C), and Wikipedia (R))
Feb. 28, 2023 By Michael Dorgan
Queens Councilman Robert Holden has come out swinging for the DOT after the agency misspelled the name of baseball legend Jackie Robinson on a road sign in Glendale.
The lawmaker took to Twitter to vent his anger after learning the agency botched Robinson’s name on the sign, which was erected at Myrtle Avenue and Forest Park Drive.
The sign — which has since been taken down — notified motorists of the “Jackie Robinson Parkway,” a 5-mile thoroughfare that runs from Jamaica Avenue in Brooklyn through to the Grand Central Parkway in Kew Gardens. The road was named in honor of the former Brooklyn Dodgers player.
However, the DOT omitted the letter “c” in the baseball great’s name and instead the sign reads: “Jakie Robinson Parkway.”
“Not only can’t the central planners at NYC DOT move traffic smoothly and safely, but they can’t even spell,” Holden tweeted late Sunday after the news came to light.
“The DOT needs a major overhaul. They’re a mess.”
The sign also included a picture of Robinson batting above the text. Robinson became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era when he appeared for the Dodgers in 1947 and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.
The DOT told the Queens Post that the sign was replaced Monday morning. A new sign with the correct spelling has gone up in its place.
Holden wasn’t the only person irked by the botchery.
Local residents said they, too, were incensed by the mistake.
Quana Martin, 32, found the typo strange.
“I just feel it’s a little odd because how do you not know how to spell his name?” Martin told the New York Post, which was the first to report the news.
“He’s a well-known figure.”
Glendale native Kira Incantalupo also chimed in.
“It’s embarrassing,” he told the publication. “That shouldn’t have happened, I mean, nobody wants to have that.”
The sign was replaced Monday (Photo provided by the DOT)
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