This new street sign leaves no possibility of error in the pronunciation of Louis Nine Boulevard: it’s Louis NEEN-yay, not “Louis 9”. The street was renamed from Wilkins Avenue soon after the 1983 death of Bronx assemblyman Nine, whose name is spelled without the accents in his NY Times obituary. Louis IX, meanwhile, was a Crusading 13th Century French monarch and the only one made a saint by the Catholic Church.
The era of total street renaming seems to have come to an end, as streets get “sub-names” these days on separate street signs, with the original name allowed to remain in place.
6/12/13
9 comments
Because the accent mark is over the E, wouldn’t it be pronounced neen-YAY?
OK.
This picture shows that the MTA should paint the elevated structure ASAP that supports the elevated section of the 2 and 5 lines. The peeling paint is really bad from just east of the 3rd Avenue station (where it emerges from underground) up to Tremont Avenue!
Absolutely. I noticed that.
According to the NYCDOT, there isn’t any accent over the “e” in “Niñe”.
Then, why did the DOT put one on the sign?
Glad to see this sign, whether NEEN-yay or neen-YAY. I couldn’t imagine why we’d have named a street after a French king.
I will have always grown up at 1407 Wilkens Ave. Bronx 54, N.Y.
Glenda Benovitz
I too grew up at 1407 Wilkins Ave. just like Eugene and Ira. So sad to see history erased but that’s progress, I guess.