Jean-Michel Basquiat receives NYC street named after him

A section of roadway in downtown Manhattan is now named after the famed pop artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, whose graffiti-inspired paintings helped redefine modern art in the 1980s.

The New York City Council on Tuesday held a renaming ceremony with members of the Basquiat family for the section of Great Jones Street between Bowery and Lafayette in NoHo.

Though Basquiat was a Brooklyn native, the artist lived and worked at 57 Great Jones Street from 1983 until his accidental death from a heroin overdose in 1988 at the age of 27.

“The co-naming recognizes Jean-Michel Basquiat’s enduring legacy as a visionary Black artist who helped redefine modern art through his bold, expressive and socially conscious work,” the New York City Council said in a statement.

“The space [at 57 Great Jones Street] served as his home and studio during some of the most prolific years of his career, anchoring him in a neighborhood that was at the heart of New York’s creative energy in the 1980s.”

Basquiat’s sisters Jeanine Heriveaux and Lisane Basquiat attended the ceremony and called the new street name “deeply meaningful” to the family, the New York Daily News reported.

“Jean-Michel’s is a New York Story,” they said. “We are thrilled to witness this epic moment of acknowledgment and honor from the city that helped shape him.”

The building at 57 Great Jones Street, purchased in 1970 by Andy Warhol and later leased to Basquiat from 1983 until his death, now features a bronze plaque commemorating the artist’s time there. Over the years, its graffiti-marked façade and location have made it a destination for fans and followers of his work.