Almost 5,000 People Have Signed a Petition to Rename the Corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street “Bill Cunningham Corner”

Last weekend, celebrated New York Times street style photographer Bill Cunningham died from a stroke at 87. In honor of his memory, art dealer Nick Nicholson created a Change.org petition to rename the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street, one of Cunningham’s favorite places to photograph, “Bill Cunningham Corner.”

As of this writing, the petition has garnered nearly 5,000 signatures, exceeding their initial goal of 500 signatures. The petition will be sent to Mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio, the chair of the Landmarks Preservation Committee and the local community board.

The petition reads:

For decades, the extraordinary photographer Bill Cunningham stood on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street, photographed New Yorkers, and showed us to the world on the pages of the New York Times. His unerring eye for what was fashionable, his documentation of everyday New Yorkers wearing and doing extraordinary things, and his love of our city and its people made the corner of 57th and Fifth Avenue “Bill Cunningham’s Corner” long ago … Now, more than ever, it is incumbent upon the City and the Landmarks Commission to convert this to a permanent status!

In honor of Cunningham, designer Jeffrey Banks is also creating a sculpture of Cunningham at the intersection, according to WWD. Read Paste’s obituary for Cunningham here.