Cicely Tyson's Childhood Street to Be Renamed in Her Honor

On Saturday, September 17, East 101st Street between 3rd and Lexington Avenues will be renamed Cicely Tyson Way in honor of the late award-winning actor.

Beginning at 12pm, the tribute to Tyson will be marked with a street celebration on the very stretch of 101st on which she grew up. The event will feature an unveiling ceremony with a presentation by the Honorable Diana Ayala, New York City Council deputy speaker. The presentation will be followed by the Dance Theatre of Harlem, Poet Laureate of El Barrio Jesús Papoleto Meléndez, poet Juan Papa Santiago, the Dominican Folklore Dance Troupe, the Caribbean-American Sports and Youth Movement Steel Orchestra, and other notable community members.

Tyson was born in 1924 to parents from the Caribbean island Nevis, and was raised at 178 East 101st Street, a five-story walk-up between Lexington and 3rd Avenue. Throughout her acting career, she earned acclaim for her television and film performances in Roots, Sounder, The Autobiography of Jane Pittman, Fried Green Tomatoes, and How to Get Away with Murder, among others. She appeared in nine Broadway productions, earning a Tony Award in 2013 for her performance in The Trip to Bountiful, and starring opposite James Earl Jones in a 2015 revival of The Gin Game. Tyson was additionally awarded the Kennedy Center Honors lifetime achievement award in 2015, the Presidential Medal of Freedom (by President Barack Obama) in 2016, and an Honorary Academy Award in 2018. She died in January 2021 at the age of 96.