Signs of the times

By Daniel Israel

The city has recently honored two Black leaders. Edith Ferrell and Rev. H. Gene Sykes had streets renamed after them: West 19th and West 20th Street respectively.

The signs stand on the corner of each street and Avenue C. Ferrell and Sykes died last year, leaving behind legacies of love and excellence.

The portion of West 19th Street between Avenue C and Broadway was renamed Edith Ferrell Way in April. Ferrell died on Feb. 8, 2020, just days after her 70th birthday.

In February of this year, the city council passed a resolution renaming that portion of West 19th Street for Ferrell. The Flournoy Gethers VFW Post #7470 is on that part of the street, where she was Auxiliary President.

Ferrell was born in Virginia and moved to Bayonne after her marriage to Jerry Ferrell. For more than a decade, Ferrell’s leadership and support as the Auxiliary President of Flournoy Gethers VFW Post #7470 enabled the post to maintain its membership in the Bayonne Veterans Community.

In 2019, Ferrell was selected to be the Grand Marshall for the Memorial Day Parade. She was the fi rst African American woman and the third woman to be chosen.

Ferrell served as a board member for the local chapter of the NAACP, Vice Chairperson of the Bayonne Housing Authority, Committee Member of the Bayonne City Democratic Organization, and member of the Jersey City Black Caucus. She was a former trustee of the Bayonne Board of Education, and past President of the Bayonne Community Day Care Nursery.

At a ceremony renaming the street and unveiling the sign, officials, family, and friends spoke. Ferrell’s son Courtney was presented with a framed copy of the city council resolution and a framed joint resolution honoring his mother by Assemblyman Nicholas Chiaravalloti, Assemblywoman Angela McKnight, and State Senator Sandra Cunningham.

“Now the block becomes her,” Courtney Ferrell said. “This is a refl ection of her life. Rev. H. Gene Sykes. Photo by Alyssa Bredin Quiros

Until the day she died she was working diligently in the hospital to make a comeback.”

Rev. Dorothy Patterson of Wallace Temple AME Zion Church offered a prayer.

The portion of West 20th Street between Broadway and Avenue C was renamed Rev. H. Gene Sykes Way on Easter Sunday. Friendship Baptist Church, where Sykes was pastor, is there.

Henry Eugene Sykes was one of the fi rst residents to die from the coronavirus on April 4, 2020. His wife Fannie died on April 25.

Sykes became pastor of Friendship Baptist Church in 1992, after nearly two decades of work in the ministry throughout North Jersey. Sykes moved the church from its old location on West 20th Street to its current spot down the

block, and oversaw the renovation and expansion of the church, including the construction of a 500-seat sanctuary, a daycare center, and the establishment of a soup kitchen.

Sykes served on the Bayonne Housing Authority for many years, was a member of the Bayonne Interfaith Clergy, and held leadership positions in the local chapter of the NAACP. He founded the Bayonne Community Action Project, which advocates for the creation of affordable housing, and the Build America Association, which operates an early childhood development center.

Fannie Sykes served as First Lady of the church for 27 years, also working as the general secretary and special assistant to the pastor.

Following a memorial service at the Friendship Baptist Church during Easter service, members of the congregation poured out of the church to the corner of East 20th Street and Avenue C, where city offi cials gathered with the Sykes family to rename the street and unveil the new sign.

John Sykes, son of Gene and Frannie, pulled the cover off the sign, revealing the tribute to his father, and was presented with a proclamation declaring April 4, 2021, Rev. Sykes Memorial Day. Assemblyman Chiaravalloti presented the family with two additional proclamations honoring the couple.

John Sykes spoke on behalf of the family: “If there is anything that we can take away from the life of Rev. Sykes, it is devotion to God and service to others.” The ceremony concluded with a few lines from Sykes’s favorite song, “Amazing Grace.”

Sykes and Ferrell epitomized the words amazing and grace. Their eternal embrace can now be felt along Avenue C in midtown. The signs are a reminder for young people of two remarkable role models.—BLP