Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Presidential Power

Mark Marku, the Yugoslavian-born owner of Clio Road Coney Island has rechristened his restaurant. The new name? Obama Coney Island, of course.



5 comments:

  1. Wisdom suggests waiting until a person has passed before naming anything after them. Sadly, wisdom seems to be a scarce commodity these days.

    "The Future Lives in Flint!"

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  2. Okay, that explains why those presidential dollar coin holders stop at Ford. I knew it had to do with that, but I didn't know WHY.

    I had thought it was superstition or lawsuit prevention or something...

    Yes, wisdom has been lost on me... :(

    Can you tell me why people don't name things after living people... is it just tact?

    Please tell me or else I'm going to have to google it, and I really don't want to google it. :)

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  3. There may be other reasons of which I am unaware, but one's life is best fully lived all the way until the end before an assessment as to the worthiness of having a building, bridge, institution, or some other thing named after/or in honor of them could be deemed appropriate.

    For example, if a school had been named after former New York governor Eliot Spitzer, that could have presented a teeny, weeny (no pun intended) problem for the school board after the untimely appearance of Ashley "Kristin" Dupre.

    I helped organize a group in Kimball, MI (Port Huron area) that started a charter school 10 years ago. It was suggested that we name the school after a living, breathing, and, up until then, well-respected human being. Okay--so far so good--but, well...you see what I mean?

    We chose "Landmark Academy" (landmarkacademy.net) instead. I don't think they'll have to worry about changing the name anytime soon.

    Again, this is not a hard, fast rule--there have been ships and airports and stuff named after living presidents--just something worth considering.

    The Ludlum Elementary School in Long Island, New York has been officially renamed Barack Obama Elementary School. I do hope this works out well for them. Time will tell.

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  4. I see your point. It is well made. We can only hope Wendy from the Wendy's franchise lives up to good hamburgers. ;D

    As far as schools or institutions, I agree with you. But for a coney island or deli, am not sure it's that big a deal... yes, they may have to change signage someday, but obviously since they are doing that now, it's probably no biggie to them.

    My guess is they are trying to drum up business.

    You are right about the school's though. Those names should last.

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  5. Maybe it's just me, but if you're going to name a hot dog joint after a U.S. President, shouldn't it be Bill Clinton?

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Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.