The NY Times has reported that current residents of the Greenwich Village area want to get the block of Eighth Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues named after Hendrix. He is believed to have lived in a cottage apartment on that block.

The area, which is currently fighting gentrification, could use the tourist attraction. 

“Gentrification is killing us,” Richard Geist, a local store owner in favor of the petition, said. “Eighth Street has lost the magic and we want to bring that magic back, and bring traffic back to help business.”

If only it were that simple. The process of getting a street renamed is a long process. 

"Obtaining a street co-naming — the honorary name is typically posted along with the original — requires a proposal to the local Community Board 2. If approved, a local Council member — Councilman Corey Johnson and Councilwoman Margaret Chin represent parts of the block — would then have to propose the co-naming to the full City Council for a vote. The Council typically approves about 100 new street names each year citywide," the Times reports.

However, internet entrepreneur Rob Key believes that he can get the job done with an appeal to what Hendrix has done for the city. Hendrix built and left behind Electric Lady (which is next door to the cottage apartment), although it is unknown if Hendrix actually ever lived in the cottage. Still, more than 1,000 signatures have been collected for the street-naming petition, with Key and other supporters hoping to gain more community support before starting the official submission process.

"Jimi Hendrix’s cultural impact on New York’s Greenwich Village is immeasurable. For almost 50 years, music’s most celebrated recordings have been produced right here on West 8th Street at Electric Lady Studios – the facility Hendrix himself created in 1970,” the petition reads. “From Patti Smith, Stevie Wonder, David Bowie, and The Rolling Stones to Lorde, Frank Ocean, St. Vincent and Adele, Hendrix’s inspiration and influence is still felt to this day.”

“I’m worried about the gentrification of the block,” Key said. “The history of New York gets lost sometimes and that’s what this is all about.”

If you are interested in learning more about or signing the petition, you can find it here.