Harlem celebrates legacy of Bill Perkins with new street sign

William "Bill" Morris Perkins' life is a true Harlem tale, going from humble beginnings to an activist and finally an elected official. So on Oct. 4, his home village saw fit to celebrate his life and legacy by naming a street for him in an emotional ceremony.

- By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff

State Senator Cordell Cleare, who served as Perkins' chief of staff for 19 years, and City Councilmember Yusef Salaam hosted the unveiling ceremony for family, friends, former staff, and Harlem community members at Duke Ellington Circle. During the event, they unveiled a new street sign which read, 'The Honorable Bill Perkins Way,' placed at the corner of 5th Avenue and 110th Street.

"I said I would never work for an elected official and turned my nose up at it and everything. But this was no ordinary elected official. This was someone who had the heart of the people in his heart. I don't regret one single day of service," said Cleare. She and Perkins had initially met during her environmental crusade as a tenant leader to end lead poisoning in the city after her own son's exposure to it in the 1990s.

Perkins was born in Harlem in 1949. He was raised by his mother, Helen, alongside his three brothers. She was a huge driving force behind his education, determined to instill in him the value of hard work. But it was really the fight to defend his neighbors from deplorable safety conditions after a massive fire ripped through his apartment building at Schomburg Plaza (The Heritage) in 1987 that led to his life as a community activist, tenant leader, and eventually, an elected official.

"Bill got [Division of Housing and Community Renewal] DHCR to publicly acknowledge that there was faulty work and the building sued the architects and the contractors responsible for the building's construction," said Valerie Jo Bradley, co-founder and president of Save Harlem Now!, recalling the incident. "Perkins was a leader for the people. He spent his life advocating for the people of Harlem to be treated with decency and respect."