Jack Kirby finally gets his streets—NYC names two corners after the king of comics
About damn time. The city that raised Jack Kirby is finally giving the King his crown: two NYC street corners now officially bear his name.
Essex and Delancey—right in the heart of the Lower East Side where Kirby was born and raised—has been rechristened Jack Kirby Way and Yancy Street, a nod to the gritty, chaotic block that shaped both the man and his most beloved characters. (Ben Grimm, The Thing? Yep. Born on Yancy.)
With a fresh Fantastic Four flick dropping later this month, it’s poetic timing. Marvel top dog C.B. Cebulski called the tribute “an honor” and joined Kirby’s family for the unveiling.
Street signs went up, tears were shed, and a crowd of comic lovers tipped their hats to the OG creator behind basically your entire childhood: X-Men, Iron Man, Black Panther, Thor, Hulk, the Avengers—the list goes on like a stacked headline tour poster.
Of course, Kirby’s legacy hasn’t always gotten the spotlight it deserved. His son Neal has publicly called out how the Stan Lee machine (and a recent Disney doc) sidelined his father’s contributions. “Stan had the megaphone,” Neal said. “Dad did the work.” And while Stan was the showman, Kirby was the architect.
Jack passed in ’94, but his world-building fingerprints are everywhere. Now, finally, New York’s given him a permanent place in the city skyline.
Legends don’t die—they just get their own street signs.
