Manhattan intersection to be named after Shimon Peres

JTA — Shimon Peres may have never lived on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, but soon the late Israeli president will have a New York City street corner named in his honor.

The intersection of West 95th Street and Riverside Drive will be renamed “Shimon Peres Place” after the New York City Council approved nearly 200 new street names last week to honor various people.

The news was reported by Patch, which noted that while Peres never lived in the city permanently, he did study at both New York University and the New School, and frequently visited New York.

Peres, who died in 2016, served twice as Israel’s prime minister in addition to serving as president from 2007 to 2014.

Peres is far from the only notable Jewish figure to have a street or intersection named after him in New York City.

Among the streets named for Jewish historical figures in New York City and catalogued by the unofficial “NYC Honorary Street Names” blog are: a section of 33rd street named for the Yiddish author Sholom Aleichem in 1996; the corner of Bank Avenue and Greenwich Avenue named for the liberal activist and politician Bella Abzug; and an area near the Museum of Jewish Heritage named after the banker and philanthropist Edmond J. Safra.