Title
Dept/ Agency: Offices of Municipal Council/City Clerk
Action: ( ) Ratifying (X) Authorizing ( ) Amending
Type of Service: Ceremonial Street Designation
Honoree: Honorable Donald Bradley
Date(s): Saturday, September 28, 2019
Official Street Name(s): Intersection of Keer Avenue and Bergen Street
Ceremonial Intersection Name: Honorable Donald Bradley Way
Sponsor: Council Member, John Sharpe James
Additional Information:
body
WHEREAS, Ordinance 6PSF-e, adopted on May 20, 2015, authorizes the designation of an intersection, etc., for honorary and ceremonial purposes; and
WHEREAS, Former Municipal Council President and long-time South Ward Councilman Donald Bradley, was the consummate public servant who served the City of Newark and its residents faithfully in various capacities and occupations throughout his life, including educator and drug counselor, civil rights activist, mentor, Minister and Councilman; and
WHEREAS, Council President Bradley was born and raised in the City of Newark where he attended West Side High School and achieved fame as an all-star basketball player and earned an athletic scholarship to Winston-Salem Teachers College, where he achieved further prominence as a leading participant in the historic lunch-counter sit-ins leading to the desegregation of eating establishments in the South. A United States Air Force veteran and West Side High School and Newark Hall of Fame Inductee, he began his long service to the City of Newark as an elementary teacher in the Newark Public School system, in addition to, coordinating the After-School Recreational Program and Director of Recreation at the Chancellor Avenue School Annex, Project D.A.R.E. Coordinator and co-founded Weequahic High School Father’s Club; and
WHEREAS, he was appointed to the Newark Municipal Council to succeed South Ward Council Member, Donald M. Payne in 1989. Council President Bradley served five (5) terms, four (4) terms as Council President. He also served in leadership positions on numerous commissions, civic and non-profit organizations, including the Newark Housing Authority, Newark Alcohol Control Board (ABC), Newark NAACP, the Newark Watershed Conservation and Development Corporation and Newark Symphony Hall Advisory Board; and
WHEREAS, Council President Donald Bradley was an iconic figure in Newark’s political history where he worked tirelessly to improve the lives of young people and the residents of the City of Newark with unwavering passion, integrity, understanding and pride.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, THAT:
1. The Municipal Council does hereby authorize the honorary and ceremonial renaming of the intersection of Keer Avenue and Bergen Street “Honorable Donald Bradley Way”.
2. The official name of the said streets shall remain Keer Avenue and Bergen Street in their entirety.
STATEMENT
This resolution authorizes the naming of the intersection of Keer Avenue and Bergen Street “Honorable Donald Bradley Way”, for honorary and ceremonial purposes.