Boston’s Public Improvement Commission on Thursday accepted the request from the Red Sox owners to change the name of Yawkey Way due to an alleged racist past. The street in front of Fenway Park will go back to its original name, Jersey Street.
The Boston Red Sox first filed a petition with the Public Improvement Commission in February to change the name.
The Yawkey Foundation released this statement expressing sadness after the decision.
“As we have said throughout this process, the effort to expunge Tom Yawkey’s name has been based on a false narrative about his life and his historic 43-year ownership of the Red Sox. The drastic step of renaming the street, now officially sanctioned by the City of Boston. . . will unfortunately give lasting credence to that narrative and unfairly tarnish his name, despite his unparalleled record of transforming the Red Sox and Fenway Park and supporting the city he loved through his philanthropy.”
“This a sad day for all of us at the Foundations. Tom Yawkey deserved to have his name live on at Fenway Park. We can’t change today’s decision, but we remain hopeful that he will be remembered as the good and decent man he truly was.”
Live look at social media after this announcement:
