The Honor of Co-named Streets – Bella Abzug Way 

People have been honored here in Greenwich Village with co-naming of streets or places for them. Look for the special green signs below the regular street signs.

Photo and text by Brian J. Pape, AIA.

Bella Abzug Way is located at the west corner where Bank Street terminates at Greenwich Avenue, directly across from the NYC AIDS Memorial Park.

The honoree is Bella S. Abzug (July 24, 1920-March 31, 1998), a leading liberal activist and politician, nicknamed “Battling Bella,” especially known for her work for women’s rights. Born in New York City, both of her parents were Russian Jewish immigrants. Abzug joined other leading feminists such as Gloria Steinem, Shirley Chisholm, and Betty Friedan to found the National Women’s Political Caucus. She was a leading figure in what came to be known as “ecofeminism.“ In 1970, Abzug’s first campaign slogan was “This woman’s place is in the house — the House of Representatives.”

From 1971 to 1977 she represented Greenwich Village and other parts of lower Manhattan in the U.S. Congress. She lived and worked at 37 Bank Street for over 40 years. She was admitted to the New York Bar in 1947 and began a civil rights law practice, opening a day care center in her first office at the Duplex on Christopher Street and Seventh Avenue. As a Congresswoman, she was active in labor law, a founder of the National and State New Democratic Coalition and helped create the Women Strike for Peace Movement. In 1975, she made history when she introduced the first gay rights bill in Congress.

She spoke out against poverty, racism and violence and was co-chair of the National Advisory Committee for Women. She helped found the National Women’s Political Caucus and wrote legislation making it illegal to discriminate against women trying to get credit, credit cards, loans, and mortgages. She also co-authored the Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts.

In 1994 she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, NY. This co-naming honor was approved in 2017.

There is also a Bella Abzug Park in Hudson Yards development, named by the Parks Department in 2019. The park extends from 33rd Street to 36th Street in between 10th and 11th Avenues, alongside newly created streets known as Hudson Boulevard East and Hudson Boulevard West, at the extension of the No. 7 subway line.