NYC Celebrates Simon & Garfunkel’s Debut Album With Bleecker St Sign Drop, Bronx Fast-Charging Station For Electric Vehicles: DOT

NYC Celebrates Simon & Garfunkel’s Debut Album With Bleecker St Sign Drop, Bronx Fast-Charging Station For Electric Vehicles: DOT

Editor’s note: We have previously covered other sign drops by the NYC DOT, including one celebrating baseball’s opening day and one celebrating Pride Month. We also covered the initial announcement of the coming installation of the Bronx fast-charging station. 

NYC DOT RELEASES LIMITED BATCH OF BLEECKER STREET SIGNS TO CELEBRATE THE ANNIVERSARY OF SIMON & GARFUNKEL’S 1964 DEBUT ALBUM WEDNESDAY MORNING, 3 AM, INCLUDING THE SONG BLEECKER STREET  

NEW YORK – New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez today announced a limited number of authentic street signs commemorating Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, the home to many cultural movements, celebrities, landmarks, and moments in history. The sign drop coincides with the anniversary of the release of Simon & Garfunkel’s 1964 debut album Wednesday Morning, 3 AM, which features the song Bleecker Street. Today’s release is part of the agency’s monthly ‘sign drops’, pulled from the wide range of hand-made signs from the NYC DOT Sign Shop, which produces over 70,000 signs each year.   

“Bleecker Street captures the essence of Greenwich Village’s prominence in both New York City’s history and throughout pop culture,” said NYC DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. “Showcasing a historic corridor in conjunction with the anniversary of the debut album by Queens natives Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel pays tribute to our city’s greatness.” 

“From historic architecture to its deep ties to art and music, Bleecker Street is a symbol of the culture and creativity that defines New York City,” said DCAS Commissioner Louis A. Molina. “We’re proud to honor a place that has shaped our city’s identity, and through this sign drop, we want to give New Yorkers a way to own a piece of that legacy. And we’re especially excited that the first 25 of these signs are exclusively available at our newly remodeled CityStore located at 1 Centre Street — stop in for a sign and carry home some of New York City’s magic.” 

Bleecker Street was named in the early 1800s for the family whose farm the Greenwich Village Street once ran through, and it connects Abingdon Square at Eighth Avenue/Hudson Street in the West Village to the Bowery in the East Village and NoHo. The segment from Sixth Avenue to Abingdon Square was originally named Herring Street until 1829. Bleecker Street remains home to many landmarks, including The Little Red Schoolhouse, Our Lady of Pompeii Church, several Federal architecture-style rowhouses, and multiple well-known nightlife spots. The corridor is no stranger to film and television, serving as the home to characters from shows such as Kate & Allie, What I Like About You, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. 

Music is perhaps where Bleecker Street has left its greatest imprint, with multiple references to the street across genres and far beyond the Simon & Garfunkel hit. Artists such as Bright Eyes, Iggy Pop, Joni Mitchell, Led Zeppelin, New Pornographers, and Peter, Paul and Mary all reference Bleecker Street in songs, spanning decades from the 1960s to 2024. As for famous inhabitants, the Bleecker Street area was once home to John Belushi, Robert De Niro, Mariska Hargitay, Herman Melville, and Thomas Paine, as well as home to Dr. Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum from Marvel Comics. 

A limited release of 100 signs will be sold via the CityStore, the Official Store of the City of New York, and proceeds will benefit the city’s general fund. For the first time, signs numbered 1-25 will only be available for purchase in the newly renovated CityStore, located on the ground level of 1 Centre Street in Manhattan. The remaining 75 signs are available for purchase on the CityStore’s website. This signage offers a bit of nostalgia and a literal piece of the city’ infrastructure. 

Monthly sign drops from NYC DOT feature signs for iconic New York City streets, commemorations of famous New Yorkers, celebrations of special occasions, and other custom releases. NYC DOT began its monthly drops in June 2024, with the release of Christopher Street/Stonewall Place street signs to commemorate Pride Month. 

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Bleecker Street sign. Image Credit – NYC DOT

Other recent sign drops include: 

• Mulberry Street 
• Hip Hop Boulevard to celebrate the genre’s musical and cultural legacy 
• Welcome to Queens: The World’s Borough 
• Gay Street in recognition of Pride Month 
• Wall Street 
• Leaving Brooklyn: Fuhgeddaboudit 
• East 161st Street and Shea Road in honor of baseball’s opening day 
• Love Lane to recognize Valentine’s Day 
• Broadway in celebration of Broadway Week 
• Cornelia Street to honor the street’s prominence among pop music fans 

About the NYC DOT Sign Shop 

The New York City DOT Sign Shop is in Maspeth, Queens and manufactures over 70,000 signs each year. A team of 32 Sign Shop employees hand-make street signs, highway signs, directional signs, parking signs, and more. There are about one million NYC DOT signs in use across the 6,000 miles of streets in New York City. 

The monthly sign drops are the latest iteration of sales that have historically been available from the Sign Shop. 

About the CityStore 

CityStore is the Official store of the City of New York. CityStore is operated by the New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services. 100% of sales benefit the City of New York. 

CityStore is similar to a museum store, which complements the museum by highlighting the treasures within while serving as a stand-alone retail entity for wonderful gifts, collectables and research materials. A museum store is a revenue source for the museum and reinforces and protects the integrity of the museum brand. CityStore is the ‘museum store’ for the entire City of New York. 

NYC DOT OPENS ELECTRIC VEHICLE FAST CHARGING STATION IN THE BRONX

New Fast Chargers Will Provide Affordable Public Charging and Support the City’s Green Riders Initiative To Make All Rideshare Trips Zero-Emission or Wheelchair Accessible by 2030

Located at DOT’s Municipal Parking Field at White Plains Road, the Station Will Dramatically Expand Access to Bronx Communities Underserved by the Private Charger Networks

NEW YORK – New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez today announced an expansion of the city’s network of public electric vehicle (EV) fast chargers with the opening of a new, public fast charging station at NYC DOT’s White Plains Road Municipal Parking Field in the Bronx Park East section of the Bronx (2071 White Plains Road). The new fast charging station will help support the city’s transition from fossil fuel-powered vehicles to electric vehicles and is in a community where drivers licensed by the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) are highly concentrated. TLC drivers can sign up for a 15 percent discount on charging fees. Expanded access to fast charging will help achieve the Adams administration’s Green Rides Initiative’s goal to make all high-volume for-hire vehicle trips zero-emission or wheelchair accessible by 2030.

“Achieving a greener transportation future means investing in electric vehicle chargers that will help us say goodbye to fossil fuels! As a former cab driver myself, I understand how important it is to equitably invest in communities where many for-hire vehicles drivers live,” said NYC DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. “I’m proud to say that East-Bronxites will benefit significantly from these new electric vehicle chargers, and we look forward to continuing this critical work to fulfill the Adams administration’s ambitious goals.”

“Every new charging hub makes our city cleaner, more affordable, and more sustainable,” said NYC TLC Commissioner and Chair David Do. “These chargers will be much appreciated by TLC drivers, who can sign up for a 15 percent discount through the EV Connect app. Nearly 1,000 live in this neighborhood alone, with another 1,500 living the neighborhoods immediately next to it. We look forward to more Bronx hubs opening up in the near-future.”

NYC DOT has installed four fast chargers (including three 50 kW units and one 175kW unit) at this facility, capable of providing most electric vehicles with an 80 percent charge in as little as  20 minutes. In addition to these four fast chargers, the agency has also installed four Level 2 chargers which can provide most EVs a full charge in six to eight hours.

Most of the city’s EV charging stations are concentrated in higher-income neighborhoods in Manhattan and inner Brooklyn and Queens. Among the boroughs, the Bronx currently has the fewest fast chargers. Today’s announcement helps advance Mayor Adams’ PlaNYC goal of ensuring all New Yorkers live within 2.5 miles of a fast charger by 2035. The White Plains Road station will meaningfully improve equity of access to fast-charging, increasing the number of New Yorkers who live close to fast charger from 81 to 88 percent.

This station is one of many slated to open over the next year at DOT’s municipal parking lots and garages. Progress to date includes:

• Fast Charging Program: Construction is nearing completion of a fast-charging hub, with four fast chargers and four L2 chargers, at the Bensonhurst Municipal Field, located at 1763 86^th Street, Brooklyn and the station is expected to open this fall. Three more locations, one in Brooklyn, one in Queens, and one in Staten Island, are in the pipeline, with additional groundbreakings expected this year.

• NYPA EVolve Partnership: the New York Power Authority (NYPA), through a partnership with NYC DOT and with funding from New York State’s EVolve program, has started construction of fast charging stations with multiple fast chargers at NYC DOT’s Bayside, Flushing 2, Rosedale, and Canarsie parking facilities. Construction at four additional sites—Sunnyside, Rockaway Park, Steinway 1, and Brighton Beach—is expected to begin by the end of the year, with up to two more to follow.

• L2 Charging Program: NYC DOT has broken ground on 10 new L2 chargers at the agency’s Steinway 2 parking facility in Astoria, Queens, 8 L2 chargers at College Point, and 6 at the Bensonhurst #2 lot in Brooklyn. Up to five more L2 sites are scheduled to break ground by the end of the year with more to follow.

The new fast chargers add to the city’s growing network of public charging stations. Prior to this year, NYC DOT had three fast-charging stations in operation at:

• Queens Borough Hall municipal garage in Queens

• Court Square municipal garage in Queens

• The Delancey/Essex municipal garage in Lower Manhattan

In addition to these hubs, 100 curbside on-street Level 2 chargers have been installed by the agency in partnership with Con Edison since 2021, helping New York City spearhead the recent growth in EVs in the state. As of September 2025, 79,036 EVs are registered in NYC, representing 25 percent of all EVs registered in the State.

The ‘Green Rides’ Initiative:

Announced by Mayor Adams last October, the Green Rides Initiative outlines annual requirements for Uber and Lyft’s transition to 100 percent zero-emission or WAV trips by 2030. The initiative makes New York City the first in the U.S. to commit to this kind of transition and is a key part of Mayor Eric Adams’ ‘Working People’s Agenda.’

Green Rides’ annual targets are designed to ensure a smooth and efficient transition to a cleaner, more accessible fleet by 2030. The original goals of 5 percent in 2024 were set to rise to 15 percent in 2025, but that target was met in January almost two full years ahead of schedule – with the current number at just over 21 percent. Since the start of 2024, TLC-licensed for-hire EVs have driven about 222 million trip-miles and curbed over 55,000 metric tons of carbon emissions. That is the equivalent of almost 6.2 million gallons of gasoline consumed, or just over 61 million pounds of burned coal.

“The addition of convenient fast charging in the Bronx is another step forward toward the city’s and the Power Authority’s goal of reducing pollutants and enhancing quality of life for New Yorkers,” said Justin Driscoll, president and CEO of the New York Power Authority. “We look forward to continuing to partner with New York City DOT to foster the adoption and implementation of electric vehicles and realizing the environmental benefits of electrified transportation.”

“Through our PowerReady incentive program, we’re helping build a widespread, equitable network of EV chargers to meet the needs of drivers in our territory,” said Raghu Sudhakara, vice president, Distributed Resource Generation, Con Edison. “We’re proud to help power the DOT’s new fast chargers in the East Bronx — a community where many for‑hire drivers live and where access to charging has been limited. These chargers will make it easier for drivers to go electric, support the city’s Green Rides Initiative, and improve air quality for residents in an area that has long faced environmental challenges.”

“The installation of fast electric vehicle chargers in more working-class neighborhoods is essential. This is a welcomed addition in The Bronx for drivers who like me, have made the transition from a fossil fuel vehicle to an electric vehicle,” said State Senator Gustavo Rivera. “This expanded access will not only incentivize more New Yorkers to make that transition but will help our city move the needle in addressing environmental justice and our zero emissions goals.”

“For too long, the Bronx has always been last when it comes to investment and innovation, this new EV fast-charging station shows what it looks like when our borough is finally being put first,” said Malcom Gray, Director of the White Plains Road BID. “It’s more than just an investment in clean energy—it’s an investment in equity, opportunity, and the future of Bronx communities like ours.”

“Expanding EV charging in the Bronx is a critical step toward ensuring that all New Yorkers have access to clean, affordable transportation options,” said Joy Gardner, executive director, Empire Clean Cities. “Increasing access to convenient, public charging helps make the switch to electric vehicles easier and more practical for residents, fleets, and small businesses alike—especially in neighborhoods that have long borne the impacts of vehicle emissions. Empire Clean Cities applauds NYC DOT’s continued commitment to advancing the city’s clean transportation goals and building a more equitable, sustainable future for every community.”

New, public fast-charging stations in the NYC DOT municipal lot at 2071 White Plains Road in the Bronx. Credit: NYC DOT

Banner Image: New, public fast-charging stations in the NYC DOT municipal lot at 2071 White Plains Road in the Bronx. Credit: NYC DOT