I’ve found something og a mystery at the SW corner of Franklin and Oak Streets in Greenpoint… a chiseled sign showing Oak as Madison. As mentioned on a previous Greenpoint street nomenclature page, the neighborhood’s street naming system had been simplicity itself in the past: A through Q excepting the L street for Greenpoint Avenue and the P for Calyer. The alphabetical streeet names generally referred to riverine or industrial activity (Ash, Box etc.) in most of the streets, though a couple of proper names are used such as Kent, Milton and Noble.
This however tosses a monkey wrench into the mix; I cannot find any documentation or evidence that Oak was once called Madison. Perhaps the builder had been tipped that a nomenclature change was about to take place and Oak would become Madison.
If anyone reading has a clue about Madison, let me know!
Also: Heather has found an ancient Clinton Street sign at Franklin and Calyer Streets.
10/28/15