NEW YORK, USA — A section of a popular street in the New Jersey city of Patterson, United States, is to be renamed Jamaica Way at a ceremony planned for tomorrow as part of celebrations to mark the American Labour Day weekend.

“The renaming of a section of Vreeland Avenue is a recognition of the role Jamaicans have played in the development of the city over many years,” said Owen Eccles, president of the Passaic County chapter of the Jamaica Organisation of New Jersey which has been providing much-needed help for Jamaicans in Patterson, as well as in the island.

Eccles said the Patterson City Council approved the name change of the street in a vote earlier this year.

With an estimated population of 25,000, Jamaicans have been making a name for themselves while contributing positively to the development of Patterson, many of them serving in various capacities in city government.

They include the current city clerk, Sonia Gordon and her deputy Jacqueline Brown-Murray; former council president, Errol Kerr; and Bill McKoy, who was on the city’s Board of Education for four years.

Eccles said that several of the businesses on the strip of street to be renamed are owned and operated by Jamaicans whose arrival in Patterson began mainly in the 1970s.