Neighborhood street co-named for victim of J’Ouvert festival shooting

Friends, family and local dignitaries gathered in Clinton Hill on Sunday, May 15 to commemorate the co-naming of Clinton Avenue between Myrtle Avenue and Willoughby Avenue as Carey Gabay Way.

The ceremony, in honor of the former first deputy counsel for the Empire State Development Corporation, who lost his life last year hours before the J’Ouvert festival, was held on what would have been Gabay’s 44^th birthday.

“It’s safe to say Gabay epitomized the American Dream – a dream his Jamaican parents were in pursuit of when they immigrated to America,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio of Gabay, an immigrant who attended New York City public schools through high school before graduating from Harvard University and Harvard Law School summa cum laude. “Now, when people look up at Carey Gabay Way, they will be inspired by and reminded of the great public servant who put the needs of working-class New Yorkers ahead of his own.”

“Carey Gabay was an exemplary public servant who dedicated his life to the city he loved,” added Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. “Carey Gabay Way will serve as a lasting testament to Carey’s enduring spirit and will inspire future generations of New Yorkers to pursue the promise of the American dream.”

Gabay was fatally wounded after getting caught in the crossfire between rival gangs just before the start of the J’Ouvert festival in 2015. He is survived by his wife, Trenelle Gabay; brother, Aaron McNaughton; sisters Crystal Gabay-Nurse and Stephanie Gabay-Smith;  mother, Audrey Hylton; father, Nerval Gabay; and step-father, Rupert McNaughton.