{"id":224303,"date":"2026-05-08T05:15:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T05:15:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/224303\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T05:15:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T05:15:31","slug":"new-sign-on-a-street-corner-in-brooklyn-honors-legacy-of-dorothy-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/224303\/","title":{"rendered":"New Sign on a Street Corner in Brooklyn Honors Legacy of Dorothy Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

BROOKLYN (OSV News) \u2014 Dorothy Day\u2019s extraordinary life began in Brooklyn, and now a street corner near her birthplace has been named after the legendary co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The intersection of Pineapple and Henry streets in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood is now officially called \u201cDorothy Day Way\u201d in honor of the \u201cServant of God,\u201d who was born nearby at 71 Pineapple St. in 1897.<\/p>\n

On May 2, Martha Hennessy, Day\u2019s granddaughter, and members of the Dorothy Day Guild, the organization promoting her cause for sainthood, joined clergy for the ceremony to unveil the street sign.<\/p>\n

Hennessy and Councilman Lincoln Restler, who sponsored legislation in the City Council to name the street corner, did the honors of pulling the string to remove a covering and reveal the street sign.<\/p>\n

Hennessy, who, like her grandmother is a Catholic peace activist, called the ceremony \u201ca beautiful moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The street naming marked the second time a New York institution has paid tribute to Day. In 2021, the city commissioned a Staten Island ferry<\/a> in her name, and the Dorothy Day had its inaugural voyage in 2023.<\/p>\n

A life of radical faith<\/p>\n

Day (1897\u20131980) was a journalist and social activist who lived a wild, bohemian youth before becoming a Catholic in 1927. She fed and clothed the poor, advocated for civil rights, and protested all wars.<\/p>\n

On May 1, 1933, she co-founded the Catholic Worker Movement with Peter Maurin. It is a faith-based organization that urges members to perform the corporal works of mercy and work for peace and justice. At the same time, Day also began publishing a newspaper, The Catholic Worker<\/a>, which is still published today.<\/p>\n

Day\u2019s life of faith inspired others, said Father Anthony Andreassi, administrative vicar for the Brooklyn Oratory Parishes in Brooklyn Heights.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:\u00a0Staten Island Ferry Named for Dorothy Day Makes Maiden Voyage<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cShe was a convert to Catholicism, a woman of incredible faith and committed to the poor,\u201d he told The Tablet<\/a>, newspaper of the Diocese of Brooklyn<\/a>. \u201cI know many people who have been attracted to the church because of Dorothy Day and have come to accept baptism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cardinal John J. O\u2019Connor officially opened Day\u2019s sainthood cause in 2000, granting her the title of \u201cServant of God.\u201d<\/p>\n

Day is buried in Staten Island\u2019s Resurrection Cemetery<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A cause moves forward<\/p>\n

Twenty-one years later, following the conclusion of the diocesan phase of the investigation into her life and her fitness for sainthood, her case was submitted to the Vatican for review by Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan.<\/p>\n

Kevin Ahern, board chairman of the Dorothy Day Guild<\/a>, said he sees the street corner naming as an opportunity to promote her good works.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd maybe by learning about her,\u201d Ahern said, \u201cthey can be inspired by her to live their life a little \u2026 and make the world a better place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alex Avitabile, a guild board member, spearheaded the drive to have the street corner named for Day, whom he met in 1970. He asked Restler to sponsor legislation.<\/p>\n

Avitabile recalled walking up to her after a talk she had given at the Catholic Worker House in Rochester and telling her how much he admired her. Even back then, he said he felt he was in the presence of a saintly person.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew,\u201d Avitabile recalled. \u201cShe had a way about her, her eyes. There are a few people I\u2019ve met who are saintly people. And I could just see that.\u201d<\/p>\n

A legacy still expanding<\/p>\n

The Catholic Worker Movement, which celebrated its 93rd anniversary on May 1, is still going strong today, according to guild members.<\/p>\n

Hennessy said she is pleased to see that people are still inspired by her grandmother, even 46 years after her death.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty astounding, the place she holds in their hearts and in their minds,\u201d she told The Tablet. \u201cIt\u2019s only expanding, and I truly believe that she will bring so much good to the Catholic Church and bring people back to the Church.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

Paula Katinas is senior reporter at The Tablet, newspaper of the Diocese of Brooklyn. This story was first published in The Tablet and distributed in partnership with OSV News.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BROOKLYN (OSV News) \u2014 Dorothy Day\u2019s extraordinary life began in Brooklyn, and now a street corner near her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":224304,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,6300,4840,88145,88146,23130,87333,9,24,63,88147,88148,134,9375],"class_list":["post-224303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-catholic","tag-catholic-church","tag-catholic-worker","tag-catholic-worker-movement","tag-diocese-of-brooklyn","tag-dorothy-day","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-servant-of-god","tag-servant-of-god-dorothy-day","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-ferry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}