Until 1960, Livingston Street in Brooklyn used to extend a block further west than it does now — past Clinton Street to Sidney Place. That year that western block was renamed Aitken Place for Msgr. Ambrose Aitken, the recently deceased pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Church, which can be seen in the background. The Gothic Revival Roman Catholic church was built in 1869 by Patrick Charles Keely, who designed many famed and landmarked Catholic churches in the late 19th Century.
These days, when streets are renamed, the old name is generally retained, with the new name getting a separate street sign, but in the past, the city was more into renaming streets completely.
3/14/14