Manhattan Strip Clubs: Street renamed for Sean Bell
The street naming for Bell — who was grouped with 69 other deceased New Yorkers, including former state Sen. John Marchi, of Staten Island, and boxing great Sugar Ray Robinson — passed 41-7, with two abstentions.
Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Queens), who chairs the Public Safety Committee, said he resented having to vote against the bill for people he considers heroes simply because the council would not allow Bell’s portion to be considered in a separate vote.
“It’s a despicable position we’re being placed in,” Vallone said. “There is nothing about [Bell's death] that reflects positively on the city. He’s a criminal. He was driving drunk.”
Vallone said that he asked Quinn to take Bell’s name out of the bill but that he asked for the change too late in the process.
Police shot at Bell, who was 23 and unarmed, 50 times outside a Jamaica, Queens, strip club in 2006 as he left a bachelor party with friends.