
Activists Stop Effort To Rebrand South Harlem As 'SoHa'
Photo credit: Angus Mordant for New York Daily News
Photo credit: Angus Mordant for New York Daily News
The New York City real estate company had attempted to rebrand 110th Street to 125th Street in South Harlem as "SoHa" a month back, even creating a SoHa team to attract new residents to the historically black neighborhood. But community leaders and residents alike had spoken out against the name change, which they saw as a sign of gentrification.
READ: Harlem Residents Outraged Over Attempts To Rebrand Neighborhood As 'SoHa'
Now, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Keller Williams has dropped the team and stopped their SoHa rebranding.
"The team has a passion for the people, the history and the culture of the neighborhood they also call home," a spokesperson for Keller Williams said to the Wall Street Journal. "With respect to the neighborhood and people of Harlem, they will change their team name at Keller Williams NYC."
READ: The Official Hip-Hop Museum Will Be Coming To Harlem In 2018
On Friday, newly-elected New York State Sen. Brian Benjamin announced the introduction of a bill hitting back at realtors, retailers, and developers hoping to rebrand South Harlem, with the legislation making it harder to change a neighborhood’s name. Prior to becoming senator, Benjamin was chair of Community Board 10, which launched a campaign to stop the use of the name SoHa.
Source: wsj.com