Crown Heights

Crown Heights subway stations to be renamed for Medgar Evers College

December 17, 2019 Alex Williamson
The stretch of Crown Street between Bedford and Franklin avenues is known as Medgar Evers Lane.
Share this:

Two subway stops in Central Brooklyn will have “Medgar Evers College” added to their names, in honor of a nearby public university and for the civil rights leader after which the school was named.

Franklin Avenue will become “Franklin Avenue-Medgar Evers College” and President Street will become “President Street-Medgar Evers College” thanks to the legislation, sponsored by State Sen. Zellnor Myrie and Assemblymember Diana Richardson, an alumnus of the school. The bill passed the state legislature in July and was signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo this week.

“Renaming the … stations to recognize Medgar Evers College will literally put one of our community’s most cherished institutions on the map,” Myrie said in a statement. “This community has asked for these renamings, and today, we are proud to say that their representatives have heeded their call.”

The school takes its name from Medgar Evers, a civil rights leader, NAACP field secretary for Mississippi and a World War II Army veteran. Evers was instrumental in desegregating the University of Mississippi following the United States Supreme Court ruling Brown V. Board of Education and was a strong advocate for African American voting rights in that state. He was assassinated in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1963 by a member of a pro-segregation group.

Medgar Evers College was established in 1970 as part of the City University of New York. It’s housed in four Crown Heights buildings and presently serves more than 7,000 undergraduates.

Several other subway stops in New York City have been co-named for educational institutions, including Brooklyn’s Flatbush Avenue-Brooklyn College.

“Medgar Evers College is a staple of our district,” Richardson said in a statement. “Its impact on our community is being celebrated and receiving the recognition that it deserves.”

The Assembly dedicated $125,000 in capital funds toward the changing of MTA signage and maps.

Subscribe to our newsletters


Leave a Comment


Leave a Comment

1 Comment