Nikola Tesla Corner and other Honorary Street Names in NYC

New York has a tradition of honorary – or secondary – street names. These have always fascinated me over the years, and crossing the Nikola Tesla Corner sign over the weekend sent me down a rabbit hole of street sign memories – I know, crazy – and the experience of visiting the Nikola Tesla museum in Belgrade, Serbia just last year.

So here goes with the Nikola Tesla honorary street name sign that started it all on 40th Street and 6th Avenue at the corner of Bryant Park –

My last run in with Nikola Tesla – other than the electricity that fuels our daily lives of course – was to experience how alternating current works at the Nikola Tesla museum in Belgrade in Serbia. To demonstrate how alternating current – which Tesla invented – works, a few of us were selected to stand around a transformer and were handed fluorescent lights to hold in our hands that were not connected to anything. As the transformer came on, the tube lights in our hands lit up, which was such a magical experience!

Getting back to the honorary street signs, here are a few that have caught my attention over the years:

Couple of fun facts about these – the Cartier store is in one of the original old mansions from the Gilded Age on Fifth Avenue, and Katherine Hepburn lived on the block that bears her street name for 50+ years.

And thinking of street signs reminded me about a really fun set of signs – and a bench – outside of Radio City for a week or so to mark the last season of Mad Men in 2015. These signs were for Don Draper Way and Mad Man Avenue –

And, keep it interesting, New York even has its own half avenue.

#gottalovenewyork