New York City Temporarily Names Intersection 'Bill Cunningham Corner'

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A Manhattan street corner has been temporarily named for longtime fashion photographer Bill Cunningham.

Cunningham, who took pictures of everyday people on the city streets for The New York Times, died June 25 at age 87.

After 6,000 people signed petitions, city officials on Wednesday renamed the northeast corner of 57th Street and Fifth Avenue "Bill Cunningham Corner." It was his favorite spot to snap pictures of New Yorkers, 1010 WINS' Roger Stern reported.

The renaming will last through next Wednesday.

"Bill Cunningham turned our sidewalks into runways and New Yorkers into models," Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. "His vivid photos captured our city's diversity in every sense of the word, and helped define New York as the fashion capital of the world. Now, the corner that has long been known as Bill's will officially be named for him – a fitting tribute for one of New York's greats."

"Bill Cunningham saw the style and beauty of all of our city's citizens, capturing the looks of fashion models, and bankers, grandmothers, and college students," First Lady Chirlane McCray said during the renaming ceremony.

De Blasio has the power to rename a street for a few days but permanent renaming must go through a legislative process.

The city hopes to find a more lasting way to honor Cunningham.

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