Aiming to honor a deserving local hero

Picking up on a campaign begun by the Town of Hempstead, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) said on June 8 that he will introduce legislation to rename what is called Negro Bar Channel, a waterway near Jamaica Bay, in honor of Inwood volunteer firefighter Joseph Sanford Jr., who died on Dec. 23, 2014, four days after being injured when responding to a call in Woodmere.

Town officials announced their intention to have the channel renamed for Sanford, and eliminate an offensive word, last November. Their attempt was halted by the U.S. Board of Geographic Names in Reston, Va. The policy is to wait five years before renaming a navigational channel for a person, officials said.

“The channel’s current name is of an another era, but Joseph Sanford Jr. is a hero for all time; a man who gave his life to make us safe, and one who is fully deserving of having this channel named after him,” Schumer said in a statement. “This is a no-brainer and that’s why I will do everything in my power to make sure that the feds move into the modern age, and rightfully rename the waterway in honor of a deserving local hero.”

Should Congress approve Schumer’s legislation, the name will be changed said Lou Yost, executive secretary of the federal board. “If Congress changes the name we’ll change it in our database,” said Yost, which would make Joseph Sanford Jr. Channel the standard name on all government maps, charts and documents.

Typically, the federal board is the first step in the process and then after it’s reviewed and should it gain approval, the New York State Department of Education, Committee on Geographic Names acts on the recommendation. The new name is then registered with the federal board and state committee. The current name of the channel dates back to 1963, when an act of Congress changed it to ‘Negro Bar Channel’ from an even more offensive name, which used a racial slur.

Sanford, 43, who lived on Davis Avenue not too far from the channel, was one of the first firefighters on the scene of a fire at 787 Central Ave. in Woodmere on Dec. 19, 2014. He fell through the first floor of the vacant house to the basement and was trapped under debris. Last October, the town dedicated Davis Avenue, where he lived with his family, as Joseph Sanford Jr. Avenue.

“I applaud Senator Schumer for taking the lead to help Hempstead Town change this waterway's offensive name,” Supervisor Anthony Santino said. “It is unconscionable that this racist and intolerant name still exists. When my staff and I discovered that this repugnant name still existed on maps and charts, we worked with Senator Schumer to change the federal government’s silly bureaucratic rule, which prevented changing it for so long.’

The Board on Geographic Names is comprised of members from six federal departments and the Central Intelligence Agency, the Government Publishing Office, the Library of Congress, and the U.S. Postal Service. It rules on hundreds of naming decisions each year and maintains geographical databases containing more than two million domestic records and over 11 million records for foreign names. For a name change to officially take effect, an application must be submitted to the board. Upon approval, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration then officially makes the changes and publishes the new nautical charts.

“Joe Sanford gave his life helping our community,” said Inwood native and Hewlett Harbor resident Christopher McGrath, the Sanford family attorney and longtime friend of Joe Sanford. “We wish to thank Senator Schumer, Supervisor Santino and the entire Town of Hempstead board for naming this waterway after him so that this great husband, father and hero firefighter will never be forgotten.”