The barrier-breaking infielder played 10 years for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Hall of Fame infielder Jackie Robinson—for his role in integrating baseball, his stellar play and his extraordinary character—would likely appear on any shortlist of New York’s greatest athletic figures.
The legendary Brooklyn Dodger, however, is still receiving a measure of disrespect in the town where he played out his major league career nearly 76 years after his big-league debut.
The New York Post reported Sunday evening that Robinson’s name was misspelled on a road sign near Queens’ Forest Park, not far from his eponymous road. The sign read “Jakie [sic] Robinson Parkway.”
Jackie Robinson Parkway runs through Brooklyn and Queens, and was named for Robinson upon the 50th anniversary of his major league debut in 1997. Robinson played 10 years with the Dodgers, winning a Rookie of the Year award, an MVP award, a batting title and the ’55 World Series.
A wide cross-section of New Yorkers denounced the typo in the Post, with 17-year-old Queens resident JP Ward calling it “f—ing stupid” and city council member Robert Holden labeling it “a slap in the face.”
According to New York’s Department of Transportation, the sign was replaced Monday.
