New York officials have renamed an intersection in Manhattan after the classic children’s TV show to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
Big Bird, Elmo and the Cookie Monster were among the famous characters at a ceremony to unveil the permanent new fixture, at the intersection of West 63rd Street and Broadway.
New York honoured Sesame Street’s 50th anniversary
The Sesame Street sign will be a permanent fixture at the intersection
Jeff Dunn, chief executive of Sesame Street Workshop, the non-profit organisation that makes Sesame Street, said it was “an historic occasion”.
“We can finally answer the question, can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?”, he said.
“We think Sesame Street is as much a metaphor as it is a physical location.
“Wherever people treat people with respect and welcome people and friendship, that’s also Sesame Street too.”
Big Bird attended the ceremony
The characters posed for photos with fans
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said the TV show, which first broadcast in 1969, had resulted in “50 years of making people’s lives better” and “50 years of having people believe in themselves”.
Parents and children watched as Big Bird unveiled the new street sign, which is located near the offices of Sesame Street Workshop.
It is the second time New York City has been home to Sesame Street.
In 2009, the Big Apple temporarily renamed a street to honour the children’s programme on its 40th anniversary.
Sesame Street has sought to raise awareness of several important health and social issues in recent years.
In December, the show introduced a homeless character named Lily to mitigate the impact of the trauma for young children without a permanent place to live.
And in 2017, an autistic character called Julia was introduced to the show to help improve understanding of the condition
