Volume 2, No. 18. September 27, 2002
Memory
lane
Gena Romano gestured to the weather: sunny, light breeze and T-shirt temperature,
perfect weather to be hanging out on a street corner in Brooklyn, New York.
“If you don’t think my father’s still around, look at this day,”
the owner of nearby Nellie Bly Park told a crowd of about 100 people.
On this day, September 17, this was no ordinary street corner. This was the
newly named corner of Eugene R. Romano Lane, formerly Bay 41st Street from the
Shore Parkway to Gravesend Bay, a two-block passage past the two-acre family
park the elder Romano founded 38 years ago.
Shortly after Mr. Romano died in October 1999, Community Board 11 District Manager
Howard Feuer began a campaign to get the street named in honor of his late best
friend. “Gene was an icon in the community, loved by all,” Feuer said.
“He was generous and truly cared about children.” The City Council
approved the legislation authorizing the name change and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani
signed it last year.
Borough President Marty Markowitz also spoke at last week’s unveiling ceremony
attended by city politicians and various community leaders. “It was like
old home week,” Gena said. “I was a little worried about getting through
the ceremony, but I wound up enjoying it because all these people were there
that we’d known through the years.”
Though Nellie Bly has become something of a Brooklyn institution, Eugene Romano
was honored for spreading the park’s core value—giving joy to families—throughout
the borough by participating in community events and organizations. “He
didn’t get the honor by starting a business,” his daughter said. “Lots
of people start businesses, but he gave so much in time and spirit. He really
enjoyed being a Brooklynite.”
This is the industry’s second newly named road of the year. In the spring,
Indiana renamed a portion of State Highway 162 the "W.A. Koch Memorial
Highway" after the founder of Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari
in Santa Claus. “It very well could be a trend because a lot of those original
entrepreneur at that time created businesses that added so much to their communities,”
Gena Romano said. “The ones that last are the people and families who do
the right thing.”
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