The Great Ganesha

For you readers in (or around) NYC, did you know that at Pier 61 on Chelsea Piers, right off 23rd St., there’s a little road named for the TV Series Law and Order?

I’m talking about the original series, of course, not any of the spinoffs, since only the original portrayed the grittiness and pulse of New York in all its colors. The city was a staple on the series and should have been listed as a principal cast member. And it’s really no surprise that they named a street after the show.

As regular viewers will know, the series has a rotating cast and DAs, ADAs, Detectives and Lieutenants have been changed around a few times. The most enjoyable cast (at least for me) was when they had Jerry Orbach as Detective Lennie Briscoe.

Briscoe was this wizened, hard-edged, cynical New York cop. Streetwise and tough, he also had a soft side when it came to his daughter, and when his partner was going through a rough time. Twice divorced, once alcoholic, he’d seen the world and, probably like most New York cops, very little could surprise him in life. Orbach played him to perfection, and it’s no surprise that he was voted #30 of the top 100 TV characters of all time (on Bravo). So it was quite a shock when he left the show, and needless to say, the show was never the same again. Right now, it’s a hollow shell of its old self and is almost certainly heading off the air.

Orbach died, unfortunately, in 2004, from prostate cancer, of all things, and I just read today in the NYT, that his wife is trying to get a street corner named after him.

Her target is 53rd Street and Eighth Avenue, where she and her late husband lived for 25 years before he died in December 2004 at age 69. ?This was his neighborhood,? Mrs. Orbach said in an interview. [link]

As it turns out, naming a street in New York after someone (no matter how famous or loved they are) is not as straightforward as one might think it is.

But that intersection is on the western edge of the territory overseen by Community Board 5, a group that routinely rejects such requests on principle. The board members generally prefer not to clutter up their district, which includes Times Square, with additional signs, said Gary Parker, the district manager. [link]

So if Plan A doesn’t work she plans to go to the higher-ups which, in this case, are the City Council. It seems they are friendlier. If that doesn’t work out, there’s a last-resort plan.

Still, Community Board 5 is not Mrs. Orbach?s only hope: The western half of the intersection rests within Community Board 4?s territory, so Mr. Orbach?s name could grace that side of the avenue. [link]

Well, all I can say is – good luck, Mrs. Orbach! I’m all for having him remembered this way.

If any of you guys see signs for “Jerry Orbach Way” come up on the corner of 53rd and 8th, send me a shout-out. Or better yet, send me a picture.

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