Could Trump Tower soon stand on Barack H. Obama Avenue?


President Trump famously said he could stand in the "middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and wouldn't lose any voters," but what if he suddenly found himself on President Barack H. Obama Avenue?
More than 207,000 people have signed a MoveOn petition, calling on New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City Council to rename a stretch of Fifth Avenue in Manhattan after the 44th president. They're not asking for just any portion of the street to be changed — they want to see the block between 56th and 57th Streets, home of Trump Tower, transformed into President Barack H. Obama Avenue.
The petition was created by a woman named Elizabeth Rowin, who wrote that Obama should be recognized as his "many accomplishments include: saving our nation from the Great Recession; serving two completely scandal-free terms in office; and taking out Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind September 11th, which killed over 3,000 New Yorkers." Rowin told CBS News she started the petition in December, but it's gone viral thanks to a man in Scotland tweeting about it.
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New York does not name streets after living people, but "that's an arbitrary rule," Rowin said. "In L.A., there are two streets named after him. So there's no reason New York couldn't do it as well."
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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