In 2012, Kevin Bartini began a petition to name a New York City street — the one George Carlin lived on — after the famed comedian who died in 2008:

That idea didn’t go over so well with the local Catholic leaders because there’s a church on that street and Carlin was no fan of religion:

“The Corpus Christi community is opposed to the renaming because we feel that George Carlin and his comedy do not accurately reflect the values we uphold,” Connor Hailey, vice-chairman of the church’s Parish Council, and a freshman in Columbia College, says. Indeed, Carlin had included his rejection of the church’s values in routines…

They say that as if it were a bad thing…

Anyway, the local community board approved a compromise at the time. George Carlin would have a street named after him, but it would be the next street over from Corpus Christi Church.

I thought that was the last we’d hear of the controversy, but it reared its head again this week when it was discovered that there was a technical glitch in the city’s system that accidentally put the church on George Carlin Way:

It will only be temporary. All sides describe the mix-up as a simple mistake, to be amended in the fall, when the City Council votes on another batch of street renamings. And church officials have been assured that a street sign bearing Mr. Carlin’s name will not be posted until the problem is sorted out. … [Carlin’s daughter, Kelly] laughed when told of the error in the bill. “That’s funny,” Ms. Carlin said. “Who knows if they’ll get around to amending it?”

Knowing the priorities of the Church, this will be taken care of much faster than, say, any real scandals. Too bad, too. It would’ve been a huge honor for the Church to be on Carlin’s street.

(Part of this article were posted earlier. Thanks to Scott for the link)



