widow

If you spend any time in New York City, you'll notice that a lot of the streets have two names, the actual name and the ceremonial name. Stretches of NYC streets are named after Peter Jennings, Humphrey Bogart, and Joey Ramone, among others. So you'd think if you were the family of the late Jerry Orbach, it would be pretty easy to get a street or corner named after the Broadway legend and Law & Order stalwart. Think again.

The New York Times reports that Orbach's widow, Elaine, has been turned down in her quest to have the corner of 53rd St. and 8th Ave., where the two used to live, named in Jerry's honor. Apparently the community board that governs that corner turns down all renaming requests on principle, wanting to keep the cityscape it governs as clutter-free as possible. But Elaine Orbach is determined; she intends on brining Jerry's 96-year-old mother and one of his sons to tonight's board meeting. Maybe Jerry's mom can guilt them into naming the corner after him.

[via Gothamist and Pop Candy]

I'm curious about how all of you will react to this news. There were a lot of unkind words written when I told you about a possible talk show for Patricia Heaton a while back. Well, she's also doing a comedy next season for ABC. And, Jenny McCarthy signed on to co-star. I'm trying to think of two more annoying people, but I just can't.

The comedy, by the way, is currently untitled. It's about a widow (Heaton) who "finds friends and a new path to life through the PTA." Because a grieving family is hi-larious.