Racially Named Waterway Rededicated To Fallen Firefighter

Town of Hempstead officials were celebrating today as President Trump signed an order that would rename the offensive Negro Bar Channel in Inwood in memory of a fallen firefighter.

The campaign to rename Negro Bar Channel, a waterway that straddles Inwood and Far Rockaway, began in 2016 when Hempstead Town began to campaign to have the waterway named after Firefighter Joseph Sanford, who died in the line of duty while working for the Inwood Fire Department in December of 2014. Today, that change was made official.

Because it was a federal waterway, Hempstead Town could not make the change itself. Town officials wrote a letter to the New York Board of Geographic Names, requesting the channel renaming. The state board in turn is charged with making recommendations to the federal Board on Geographic Names

The renaming met some resistance because the U.S. Board on Geographic Names has a policy that says a feature can only be named for someone poshumously after they have been dead for at least five years. With help from Sen. Charles Schumer, the policy was waived in light of the current name of the channel and Sanford's heroic death.

The waterway will now be named “Joseph Sanford Jr. Channel” in tribute to a deceased hero from the Inwood Fire Department who lived near the channel. Ex-Chief Sanford had been a member of the volunteer fire service for more than 20 years and was an active member of the Inwood community. In December 2014, he responded to a house fire call in Woodmere. He fell through a hole in the first floor into the basement and died days later from his injuries.

“The name Negro Bar Channel is unacceptable,” said Councilwoman Dorothy Goosby. “We live in a very diverse country and township and this channel is for everyone. No waterways should have a moniker that will offend so many, especially here in the Town of Hempstead.”

The channel used to have an even more offensive racial slur as a name, but that name was changed in 1963 when a law was passed prohibiting the word from being used as a name for any American map or geographical feature.

“I would like to commend Congress and the Senate for pushing, at the town’s request, this item through to receive federal approval,” said Councilman Bruce Blakeman. “The removal of the current name is long overdue and I couldn’t be happier that the name selected will honor a heroic firefighter who lived just steps away from the waterway.”

Photo: Google Maps