Comic Book Legend Jack Kirby May Get a NY Street Named for Him

Jack Kirby’s fans have spearheaded a petition to get a section of Essex Street, where Kirby was born and raised, renamed to Jack Kirby Way. This is a part of the neighborhood between Delancey Street and Rivington. In the original Marvel Comics Fantastic Four issues, Kirby named Ben Grimm’s old Lower East Side stomping grounds as “Yancy Street.” Most fans view the name as a riff on the real Delancey Street. Since Kirby often cited Ben Grimm/The Thing as the Marvel character he most closely associated with, this fully makes sense. So there’s no better place in the whole city to honor Kirby.

Jack Kirby died in 1994. And unlike Stan Lee, he never lived to see his creations become the subject of the biggest film franchise ever. In fact, he was on the outs with Marvel Comics for much of the latter half of his life. He often battled with the company over proper credit, and over unreturned original artwork. The very least that could happen now is that New York City immortalizes him with a street name. Here’s hoping that if local government approves, his grandkids get to see their granddad honored by the city that inspired so much of his work.