NYC DOT to Sell Limited Batch of Knickerbocker Avenue Street Signs
‘Knickerbocker’ Comes from Dutch-Era Clothing and Became a Nickname for New Yorkers
NEW YORK – New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) Commissioner Mike Flynn today
announced that a limited batch of Knickerbocker Avenue signs will go on sale online at 11:00 a.m.
today. The release is part of NYC DOT’s monthly ‘sign drops,’ featuring authentic, hand-made signs from the
agency’s Sign Shop, which produces more than 70,000 signs each year.
A total of 75 signs will be available for $100 each, limited to one per customer. Signs will be sold through the CityStore, the official store of the City of New
York, with proceeds supporting the city’s general fund. Previous sign drops have sold out quickly.
“Knickerbocker is part of New York’s DNA, and there’s no better way to show city pride than owning
a piece of it,” said NYC DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn. “The trousers may be out of
style, but the name never is.”
“Knickerbocker Avenue serves as a powerful reminder of New York City’s deep historical roots and the
communities that have shaped it over time,” said DCAS Commissioner Yume Kitasei.
“Through making this drop available at CityStore, we are proud to offer these signs as a meaningful way to
celebrate the cultural identity of our city.”
The term knickerbocker comes from the knee-length trousers commonly worn by Dutch colonists in New Amsterdam. It
later became a nickname for New Yorkers and was popularized by Washington Irving in his 1809 book A History of
New York, written under the pseudonym Diedrich Knickerbocker.
Knickerbocker Avenue runs through Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood, which was inhabited by early Dutch
immigrants. The neighborhood’s original Dutch name was Boswijck, meaning “town in the woods.”
Monthly sign drops from NYC DOT feature signs for iconic New York City streets, commemorations of notable New
Yorkers, celebrations of special occasions, and other custom releases.
Other recent sign drops include:
Ruth Bader Ginsburg Way
Welcome to Manhattan: “Hello, gorgeous!”
St. Mark’s Place
5th Avenue
Bleecker Street
Mulberry Street
Hip Hop Boulevard to celebrate the genre’s musical and cultural legacy
Welcome to Queens: The World’s Borough
Gay Street in recognition of Pride Month
Wall Street
Leaving Brooklyn: Fuhgeddaboudit
East 161st Street and Shea Road in honor of baseball’s opening day
Love Lane to recognize Valentine’s Day
Broadway in celebration of Broadway Week
Cornelia Street to honor the street’s prominence among pop music fans
About the NYC DOT Sign Shop
The New York City DOT Sign Shop is in Maspeth, Queens and manufactures over 70,000 signs each year. A team of 32
Sign Shop employees hand-make street signs, highway signs, directional signs, parking signs, and more. There are
about one million NYC DOT signs in use across the 6,000 miles of streets in New York City.
The monthly drops are the latest iteration of sales that have historically been available from the Sign Shop.
About CityStore
Located at the David N. Dinkins Municipal Building at 1 Centre Street in lower Manhattan, for nearly three decades
CityStore has been the official retail store of the City of New York.
The first New York City CityStore—originally known as CityBooks—opened in December 1981 at 61 Chambers Street and
was a small store that primarily sold copies of the Green Book and a few select souvenirs. In 1996, renovations to
the building caused the store to relocate to the David N. Dinkins Municipal Building, where the physical store has
resided since. Between 1997 and 1998, CityBooks was rebranded to CityStore in an effort to expand beyond book sales
and grow the city’s goodwill with visitors and New Yorkers.
Visit CityStore in person at 1 Centre Street, shop online, and follow
on Instagram and Facebook.
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