Names and words can be tricky things. Some names should be changed and some shouldn't. Some words should be spoken and some shouldn't.

We've seen the "n word" legislation, and I've made known here that the city council resolution was incredibly poorly researched (even a junior high school student would check a dictionary) and selective (what about "faggot" or "swastika"?), among many other problems. Now comes "Corbin Place."

People were living on Corbin Place without any problem at all until last month, when Denis Hamill's Daily News column revealed that Austin Corbin was anti-Semitic. Really anti-Semitic. Proto-Nazi. And, wouldn't you know, lots of Jewish people live on Corbin Place today. A city council member has proposed a possible name change.

The Jewish Press has called it "Brooklyn's Hitler Street:"

"To leave Corbin’s name on the street, in these circumstances, would be tantamount to saying that his anti-Jewish incitement didn’t matter. To change it to Celler Place would bring the Corbin saga to a fitting end: the Brooklyn street named in honor of a bigot would instead pay tribute to a Brooklynite who devoted his life to fighting bigotry."

However, the Jewish Press also acknowledges (as all do) that Corbin was an important figure in the development of Brooklyn:

"As president of the Long Island Railroad during the late 1800’s, Corbin built the first railroads to Manhattan Beach, Brighton Beach, and Coney Island. He also built the luxurious 358-room Manhattan Beach Hotel, a favorite summer spot for that era’s rich and famous, as well as another area hotel, the Oriental."

The two people who recent wrote a book on Brooklyn names (it's a great book) argue against the change, pointing out that there are about seventy Brooklyn names celebrating slaveholders. You can't change history.

No one (but me, of course) points out that not even the name "New York City" is entirely clear of antisemitism. How many of you have visited the city of York, in England? If you have, you can never forget Clifford's Tower (York Castle), and what happened on that site on March 16, 1190. From Wikipedia:

"Isolated attacks on Jews occurred also at Colchester, Thetford, and Ospringe, but the most striking incident occurred at York on the night of March 16 (the day of the Jewish feast of Shabbat ha-Gadol, the shabbat before Passover) and March 17, 1190. The Jews of York were alarmed by the preceding massacres and by the setting on fire of several of their houses by the anti-Jewish rioting in the wake of religious fervor during crusaders' preparations for the Third Crusade against the Saracens, led by Richard.

"Their leader Josce asked the warden of York Castle to receive them with their wives and children, and they were accepted into Clifford's Tower. However, the tower was besieged by the mob of crusaders, demanding that the Jews convert to Christianity and be baptized. Trapped in the castle, the Jews were advised by their religious leader, Rabbi Yomtob of Joigney, to kill themselves rather than convert; Josce began the self-immolation by slaying his wife Anna and his two children, and then was killed by Yomtob. The father of each family killed his wife and children, and then Yomtob stabbed the men before killing himself. The handful of Jews who did not kill themselves surrendered to the crusaders at daybreak on March 17, leaving the castle on a promise that they would not be harmed; they were also killed. In the aftermath the wooden tower was burnt down."

Who reads about York in any New York City school book? No one!

But anyone who has been to York can never forget it.

"New York City"--how can any city be named that? How can Jews live there?

History ain't neat. Corbin did good and bad things. The citizens of York also did good and bad things. We can learn from history, but we shouldn't re-write it. That would be censorship.

IMHO, and in the opinion of the Brooklyn naming scholars, leave "Corbin Place" be. It's part of Brooklyn's history, Brooklyn's very soul, Brooklyn's good and Brooklyn's bad. Don't change all the street signs to "Fluffy Kittens Way."

If Jewish people leave on Corbin Place, so much the better!

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