The Coney Island community came together over the weekend to celebrate the co-naming of a popular street in memory of Charlotte L. Taylor, a longtime pillar of the peninsula.
The new sign was installed Saturday, Aug. 20 at the corner of Mermaid Avenue and West 28th Street, near Taylor’s former church. There, family, friends, and former fellow congregants of Taylor convened at the street corner in a celebration of her life and legacy in southern Brooklyn — among them, Bishop Waylyn Hobbs Jr, pastor of Coney Island Cathedral Church where Taylor attended for 28 years.
“In her spare time, while she was retired she would visit P.S. 188 to have story time with kindergarteners, and Junior High School 303 to help and do Arts & Crafts,” said local Councilmember Ari Kagan, whose office spearheaded the co-naming. “To acknowledge her service and love for the Coney Island Community, she was honored on the Arts Wall in Coney Island Amusement Park. Mrs. Taylor’s life, legacy, and planted seeds have left a lasting impact in the Coney Island community.”
Kagan said the Harlem native relocated to Brooklyn where she began her teaching career in the 70s. She began working at a head start school in Prospect Park before transferring to Madeleine Jones Head Start where she would retire. In her spare time, she also served local groups such as Urban Neighborhood Services, the Coney Island Anti-Violence Collaborative, the Coney Island Sunday School Parade Committee, and donated her time to a plethora of other community projects.
“She not only was a phenomenal teacher, her passion for young people spilled over into the community. She mentored young parents and nurtured them as her own,” said Kagan. “Mrs. Taylor loved her community and her church with all her heart and soul.”
Other speakers at the ceremony included Laura Lo, director of Madeline Jones Head Start, State Senator Diane Savino, Assemblymember Mathylde Frontus, Democratic District Leader Dionne Brown-Jordan and former City Councilmember Mark Treyger, Kagan’s predecessor who started the process of renaming the street for Taylor last year.
Rose Jackson, a Coney Island Cathedral Church member and friend of Taylor, performed a song at Saturday’s ceremony and Taylor’s daughter, Youth Pastor Eboni Taylor, shared fond memories of her mother.
“She’s continuing the work of her mother,” Kagan said of Eboni.
The pol told Brooklyn Paper Tuesday that naming the neighborhood street after Taylor was a “no-brainer.”
“She was a beloved neighbor. It was a no-brainer to name the street after her,” he said, adding that it was a unanimous vote to approve the street co-naming within the Council. “Everyone was delighted.”
Kagan further noted that the ceremony was passionate — just as Taylor was.
“She deserved it,” he said. “She was a blessing to Coney Island.”
