Hempstead Proposal Would Remove Racial Name from Waterway, Rename After Fallen Firefighter

The Town of Hempstead is taking action to have the racially charged Negro Bar Channel renamed after a fallen firefighter from Inwood.

Town of Hempstead Supervisor Anthony Santino made the announcement Wednesday morning, standing on the banks of the channel with council members, and said the town was petitioning to have the channel renamed after fallen Inwood firefighter Joseph Sanford Jr. The town officials called the current name of the waterway, which straddles Inwood and Far Rockaway, an offensive racial slur that insults the diverse community surrounding the channel.

“It is highly offensive and simply unconscionable that a border between America’s largest township and the largest city in the nation still carries this racist and intolerant name,” Santino said. "The time to change its name is long overdue. Councilwoman Dorothy Goosby, Councilman Bruce Blakeman and Councilman Anthony D’Esposito have joined with me to take action to have the channel renamed after a deceased hero firefighter who lived steps from the waterway.”

Changing the name of the channel is not within the town’s power. 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, which is under the United States Geological Survey. The town officials have also corresponded directly with the federal board.

This would not be the first time Negro Bar Channel had its name changed. It had an even worse name prior to 1963. But then the federal government purged that particular slur from all American maps and geographic features.

“It is unacceptable to use this term in our society,” said Councilwoman Dorothy Goosby. “My family has fought against racism, I have broken down racial barriers and there is no reason that African Americans should have to endure this type of institutional racism.”

The town is seeking to rename the channel after Joseph Sandford Jr., an ex-chief and longtime member of the Inwood Fire Department. Sanford, who lived near the channel, 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.

“As a former fire department chief, I know of the bravery involved in safeguarding people and their property in Hempstead Town,” Councilman Anthony D’Esposito said. “Ex-Chief Sanford made the ultimate sacrifice in protecting his neighbors. He was a role model for young people, and I can think of no better person for whom this channel should be renamed.”

Raising a point that he called germane to the channel renaming, Santino referred to a recently signed federal law, which passed Congress unanimously, striking the archaic and racially offensive terms of “negro” and “oriental” from federal statutes. The law targeted two anti-discrimination subsections of U.S. Code that used the aforementioned terms to describe racial groups.

“Congress struck a victory for racial justice in passing legislation that removes the racially offensive term of ‘negro’ from federal statutes,” Santino said. “If our federal legislators have deemed that this racially charged term should be stricken from the laws of our land, why would we preserve this same type of institutional racism in the names assigned to our nation’s waterways?”

Photo: Town of Hempstead