Four Legendary Coney Island Characters To Be Honored With Street Co-Namings

Four legendary Coney Island characters are being permanently incorporated into the community they helped grow and build at three separate street co-naming ceremonies, to be hosted by council member Mark Treyger and other local politicans over the next few weeks.

Citing the importance of not losing “sight of our past,” Treyger announced the south Brooklynites to be acknowledged in the co-namings in a press release that went out Monday.

There’s Nathan and Ida Handwerker, founders of iconic Coney establishment Nathan’s famous, recently passed homeless advocate and spiritual leader Pastor Debbe Santiago, and local war hero Captain Michael E. Berdy.

The ceremonies will take place on the following dates at the following locations, according to the press release:

The corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues, where the original Nathan’s Famous restaurant is located, will be co-named “Nathan and Ida Handwerker Way” in a ceremony on September 24th, at 11 a.m. The corner of Mermaid Avenue and West 16th Street will be co-named “Pastor Debbe Santiago Way” on October 13, at 11 a.m. A ceremony co-naming West Avenue, between Ocean Parkway and West 5th Street, as “Michael E. Berdy Way” will be held on October 17th, at 11 a.m.