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Bronx Walk of Fame
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Established 1997
Location Grand Concourse from 138th Street to East 161st Street, The Bronx, New York, U.S.
Type Hall of Fame
Founder Fernando Ferrer
Owner Bronx borough president,
Bronx Tourism Council
Public transit access New York City Subway
"2" train (149th Street), "4" train (138th and 149th Streets), "5" train (138th and 149th Streets), "B" train (161st Street), "D" train (161st Street)
Nearest parking Street parking and nearby private garages
Bronx Walk of Fame 1
Bronx Walk of Fame signs for Nate Archibald and Regis Philbin at the corner of the Grand Concourse and East 153rd Street. They were two of the original five inductees.
Bronx Walk of Fame 2
Bronx Walk of Fame sign for Diahann Carroll at the corner of the Grand Concourse and East 144th Street.

The Bronx Walk of Fame is a 23 block corridor along the Grand Concourse, one of the main boulevards in The Bronx, the northernmost borough of New York City, with street signs honoring people who have lived in the borough and had worthy accomplishments. Individuals selected for honor frequently have been celebrities in artistic fields, but there also have been relative “unknowns” who have quietly made their mark on society, and several groups have also been honored. Elections to the Bronx Walk of Fame are held annually.

History

Fernando Ferrer, borough president of the Bronx from 1987 to 2001, conceived the idea for the Bronx Walk of Fame in 1997 to honor people who had ties to The Bronx and made significant contributions to society.

The initial induction ceremony, on June 1, 1997, coincided with the conclusion of the 25th Bronx Week, an annual spring celebration of street festivals and concerts throughout the Bronx, a parade, and the Bronx Ball, a black-tie gala that includes a ceremony for the inductees. The inductees’ names were inscribed on street signs mounted on lampposts on the Grand Concourse from East 161st Street to East 158th Street, in front of the Bronx County Courthouse, each bearing the name of an honoree. The original design included the honoree's name in the center of the sign, the words "The Bronx" above and "Walk of Fame" below, and stylized images of the Bronx County Courthouse on the left and a pizza shop on the right.

In 2007, the signs were replaced with a new design featuring a different typeface, a redrawn courthouse, and the pizza shop replaced by an Art Deco building meant to evoke the architectural style of many of the apartment buildings on the Grand Concourse. As more honorees have been added over the years, the signs have been placed further southward, extending past East 149th Street, beyond which there are much fewer pedestrians, and reaching the southern end of the Grand Concourse at East 138th Street.

In 2019, a five-year project was announced to reconstitute the walk along the Grand Concourse starting at East 149th Street near Hostos Community College and the main Bronx Post Office, extending to 167th Street near the Bronx Museum of the Arts. The new alignment would give an opportunity to group inductees by similar accomplishments, install new plaques, allow more pedestrians to have a better opportunity to see the plaques, and create a digital map.

Election process

Nominations can be made by anybody in the community, and selections are determined by a committee consisting of the Bronx borough president, The Bronx Tourism Council, and The Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation. Inductees’ names are announced prior to Bronx Week. Their names are inscribed on oversized street signs that are unveiled in front of the Bronx County Courthouse located on the Grand Concourse between East 158th and 161st Streets, where they remain on lampposts for one year before being transferred to different locations along the Grand Concourse to make room for the next group of honorees.

The Bronx Walk of Fame is maintained by the Bronx Tourism Council. Since 2012, the number of inductees has been limited to five per year. In 2020, Bronx Week celebrations and the Walk of Fame selections were cancelled because of the COVID-19 epidemic, which hit New York City particularly hard that spring.

List of honorees

The following people have been honored with election.

Year Name Field or Talent
1997 John Benitez (born 1957) drummer, guitarist, songwriter, and music producer
1997 Nate Archibald (born 1948) professional basketball player
1997 Regis Philbin (1931–2020) television host, actor, singer, and producer
1997 Renée Taylor (born 1933) actress, screenwriter, playwright, and director
1997 Robert Klein (born 1942) comedian and actor
1998 Angela Bofill (born 1954) singer and songwriter
1998 Garry Marshall (1934–2016) film producer, director, screenwriter, actor, and comedian
1998 Red Buttons (1918–2006) comedian and actor
1998 Rita Moreno (born 1931) actress, dancer, and singer
1999 Esai Morales (born 1962) actor
1999 Felipe López (born 1974) professional basketball player
1999 Hal Linden (born 1931) actor
1999 Joe Franklin (1926–2015) radio and television host
2000 Dave Valentin (1952–2017) musician
2000 Dolores Hope (1909–2011) singer
2000* Guy Williams (1924–1989) actor and model
2000 Marvin Scott (born 1938) newscaster and anchorman
2000 Neil deGrasse Tyson (born 1958) astronomer
2000 Sam Garnes (born 1974) professional football player
2000 Yomo Toro (1933–2012) musician
2001 Burt Young (born 1940) actor
2001 Colin Powell (born 1937) United States Army general, secretary of state, and diplomat
2001 Diahann Carroll (1935–2019) actress, singer, model
2001 E.L. Doctorow (1931–2015) author
2001 Ed Kranepool (born 1944) professional baseball player
2001 Jim Ryan (born 1939) news reporter and anchorman
2001 Johnny Pacheco (born 1935) musician, arranger, composer, music producer, and bandleader
2001 KRS-One (born 1965) rapper
2001 Lyn Brown newscaster
2001 Ace Frehley (born 1951) musician and songwriter
2001* Stanley Kubrick (1928–1999) film director, producer, and screenwriter
2002 Cathy Moriarty-Gentile (born 1960) actress and singer
2002 Danny Aiello (1933–2019) actor
2002 Gabe Pressman (1924–2017) television journalist
2002* Rosetta LeNoire (1911–2002) actress, producer, and casting agent
2002 Ray Barretto (1928–2006) musician and bandleader
2002 The Chantels pop music group
2003 Daniel Libeskind (born 1946) architect
2003 Kool DJ Red Alert (born 1956) disc jockey
2003 Jake LaMotta (1922–2017) professional boxer
2003 Jimmy Sabater (1936–2012) musician
2003 Joey Kramer (born 1950) musician
2003 Liz Torres (born 1947) actress, singer, and comedienne
2003 Michael Kay (born 1961) sportscaster
2003 Valerie Simpson (born 1946) singer, songwriter, and music producer
2004* Bobby Darin (1936–1973) singer, songwriter, and actor
2004 Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five hip hop group
2004 John Patrick Shanley (born 1950) screenwriter, director, and playwright
2004 Shelley Morrison (1936–2019) actress
2004 Sonia Manzano (born 1950) actress, screenwriter, author, singer, and songwriter
2004 Willie Colón (born 1950) musician
2005 Army Archerd (1922–2019) newspaper columnist
2005* Charlie Palmieri (1927–1988) musician and bandleader
2005 Daniel Schorr (1916–2010) journalist
2005 Dominic Chianese (born 1931) actor, singer, and musician
2005 Ed Pinckney (born 1963) professional basketball player
2005 Eddie Palmieri (born 1936) musician and bandleader
2005 Joseíto Mateo (1920–2018) musician, songwriter, and singer
2005 Kurtis Blow (born 1959) rapper
2005 The Chiffons pop music group
2006 Art Donovan (1924–2013) professional football player
2006 Bobby Sanabria (born 1957) musician
2006 La India (born 1969) singer and songwriter
2006 Manny Azenberg (born 1934) theatre producer
2006 Mary Higgins Clark (1927–2020) author
2006 Tony Guida (born 1941) newscaster and anchorman
2006 Afrika Bambaataa (born 1957) rapper
2007 Aventura singing group
2007 Budd Friedman (born 1932) founder of the Improv comedy clubs
2007 Dion DiMucci (born 1939) singer and songwriter
2007 Doris Roberts (1925–2016) actress
2007* Luther Vandross (1951–2005) singer, songwriter, and record producer
2008 Adam Rodriguez (born 1975) actor
2008 Ruth Westheimer (born 1928) author and talk show host
2008 Grandmaster Caz (born 1960) rapper and disc jockey
2008 Larry Chance and the Earls singing group
2008 Rock Steady Crew break dancers
2009 Charles Fox (composer) (born 1940) composer
2009 Grand Wizzard Theodore (born 1963) disc jockey
2009 Judy Reyes (born 1967) actress
2009 Melissa Manchester (born 1951) singer, songwriter, and actress
2009 Tony Orlando (born 1941) singer, songwriter, and music producer
2010 Ed Lewis (born 1940) founder of Essence magazine
2010 Herman Badillo (1928–2014) United States congressman, Bronx borough president
2010 Jerry Vale (1930–2014) singer
2010 Joanie Madden & Cherish the Ladies music group
2011 Charles Latibeaudiere (born 1969) television producer
2011 Chazz Palminteri (born 1952) actor
2011 Irene Cara (born 1962) singer, songwriter, and actress
2011 Joy Bryant (born 1974) actress
2012 Fat Joe (born 1970) rapper
2012 Sol Negrin (1929–2017) cinematographer
2012 Tyson Beckford (born 1970) model, actor
2012 Valerie Capers (born 1935) musician and composer
2013 Ellen Barkin (born 1954) actress
2013 Miguel Angel Amadeo (born 1934) musician and composer
2013 Robert Abrams (born 1938) New York State attorney general, Bronx borough president
2014 David Zayas (born 1962) actor
2014 Priscilla Lopez (born 1948) actress and dancer
2014 Rachel Ticotin (born 1958) actress
2014 Willie Colon (born 1983) professional football player
2014 Swizz Beatz (born 1978) rapper and record producer
2015* Alfredo Thiebaud (1940–2014) local businessman
2015 Dolph Schayes (1928–2015) professional basketball player
2015 Malik Yoba (born 1967) actor
2015 Stacey Dash (born 1966 or 1967) actress
2016 Arlene Alda (born 1933) musician, author, and photographer
2016 Eduardo Vilaro (born 1964) dancer and choreographer
2016 Peter Sohn (born 1997) animator, director, and voice actor
2016 Vincent Pastore (born 1946) actor
2017 Manny Villafaña (born 1940) medical device inventor
2017 Funkmaster Flex (born 1968) disc jockey, rapper, record producer, actor, and radio host
2017 Prince Royce (born 1989) singer and songwriter
2017 Selenis Leyva (born 1972) actress
2018 Tarana Burke (born 1973) activist who started the Me Too movement
2018 Slick Rick (born 1965) rapper and record producer
2018 Maggie Siff (born 1974) actress
2019 Regina Spektor (born 1980) singer, songwriter, and pianist
2019 Iran Barkley (born 1960) professional boxer
2019 Carolyn Porco (born 1953) astronomer
2020 no inductees, elections cancelled because of the COVID-19 epidemic

​Posthumous honoree

Bronx Walk of Fame website

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