New Brownsville Street Sign Will Honor Local Basketball Legend

BROWNSVILLE, BROOKLYN — Belmont Avenue will be co-named Saturday to honor basketball legend Dwayne "Pearl" Washington, a Syracuse University point guard who elevated his team to national status and gave back to the Brooklyn neighborhood where he was raised.

Crowds will gather at the corner of Belmont Avenue and Mother Gaston Boulevard at noon Saturday, about two years after Washington died from brain cancer at the age of 52, to witness the block's co-naming, according to Community Board 16 district manager Viola D. Greene-Walker.

Dwayne “The Pearl” Washington Way will cover two blocks near 131 Belmont Ave., where the world-famous basketball star once lived, according to a Syracuse University report, after his sister Janie Washington-Bennett led the campaign to honor him.

"I wanted to do something to make sure I keep his legacy alive," said Washington-Bennett. "He was a quiet kind of person but he touched a lot of people."

(Keep up with NYC events and news by subscribing to the Brownsville Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Washington — who played for National Basketball Association's New Jersey Nets and Miami Heat — was best known as an unbeatable player who learned his trade at the Boys and Girls High School, according to his New York Times obituary.

The Brownsville ball player earned his mollusky moniker — a tip-of-the-hat to Hall of Fame guard Earl "The Pearl" Monroe — when he was an 8-year-old showing off his moves on the local Brooklyn courts, according to the Times.

“Who do you think you are," older players reportedly asked. "The Pearl?”

As a point guard, Washington would define an era in basketball history when he played for Syracuse University between 1983 and 1986, according to his Syracuse University obituary.

"Everybody says that Patrick Ewing and Chris Mullin made the Big East, but I think Pearl made the league,'' Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim reportedly said.

"They were the best players, but Pearl was the player that people turned out to see and turned on their TVs to watch.''

"He wasn't selfish, he was a team player," said Washington's sister. "Once you can learn that, you can do everything."

That's why she returned to Brownsville in 2017 to ask her neighbors and Community Board 16 to honor Washington's legacy and the work he did through a nonprofit he founded, P.E.A.R.L. 31.

"In his heart, he always wanted to come back to his community to give back," said Washington-Bennett.

Now led by Washington-Bennet, the nonprofit is organizing basketball teams and tournaments for middle school boys and girls of Brownsville, Washington-Bennett said.

Her work in the neighborhood has earned her a nickname she loves: Sister Pearl.

"Everyone opened their arms to me, it's so surprising," she said. "It's not about making money, its about reaching out and doing it."

Bennett-Washington, a former assistant principal, hopes to expand the nonprofit to include educational programs in the years to follow she said.

"We want people to see the connection between education and sports," Bennett-Washington said. "You can really make a difference for young people."

And, with the street sign, Washington-Bennett hopes to tell all of Brownsville what her work in the neighborhood has taught her.

"People have been so good to me in my community," she said. "A lot of good people come out of Brownsville."