A Block of Putnam Avenue to Become 'Collymore Court'?

In a parked car at a once-notorious corner of Clinton Hill, Renee Collymore points vigorously left towards the church on Grand Avenue, then towards the small block of Putnam Avenue behind her — all landmarks, she says, of her father’s contributions to the neighborhood.

Now Collymore’s father, who passed away in 2003, may soon grace the block of Putnam Avenue between Grand Avenue and Downing Street with his name: Cecil Collymore. 

That is, if his daughter gets her way. The younger Collymore will propose renaming the once drug ridden block Cecil Collymore Court at the next Community Board 2 meeting on February 15.

“He always said in 20 years this block is going to be a great place to be,” Collymore said. “And look, now we’re getting there.”

Soon, Collymore will usher her new tenant, , into the storefronts along Putnam Avenue. The Co-op will occupy the spaces once filled with her father’s shops, which included Collymore Laundry, a 99-cent store, and a coffee shop that also served up her mother’s soul food.

It will be the latest sign of big changes on the block. Just around the corner, the bar has been a hit with locals; another signal that the area's worst days may be behind it.

When Cecil Collymore first purchased property along Putnam Avenue in 1978 it was a hot spot for prostitution and drugs. Collymore said that on some occasions her mother and father slept inside one of their stores to guard the strip from vandals.

“It was a real home-grown, old fashioned type of place,” said Collymore, who ran a losing campaign for District Leader last year.

Local players like Councilwoman Letitia James and PS 56 Principal Herman Merritt are backing the proposal.

“Due to the strong, caring and impactful efforts of Mr. Cecil Collymore, generations of children were afforded an opportunity to receive a quality education because they now felt safe to walk to school,” Merritt wrote in a letter to Community Board 2.

Collymore said that the Co-op that will soon open is right in line with her father’s vision for both the block and the neighborhood he loved.  

“I love my new tenants but it’s important to remember that they wouldn’t be here had my father not put pressure on the neighborhood to change,” she said. “It’s going to be an entirely new look for Putnam.”

The proposal to rename the block of Putnam Avenue will go before Community Board 2 on Feb.15 at the Callahan Center in St. Francis College at 180 Remsen Street between Clinton and Court streets.