Donald J. Trump Avenue Debuts in South Florida
HIALEAH, FLORIDA — A South Florida city is naming a street after former President Donald Trump.
On Tuesday, the Hialeah City Council voted to rename Palm Avenue as “President Donald J. Trump Avenue.” But the city council’s decision was opposed by the Historic Preservation Board, who unanimously rejected a similar proposal last year.
Last week, at Trump’s rally, Mayor Steve Bovo promised to honor the former president with a namesake road in the primarily Hispanic town north of Miami. During the rally at Henry Milander Park – while five of Trump’s rivals participated in the third Republican presidential debate – Bovo posed for photos with the former president holding a street sign bearing his name.
The council’s decision makes Trump the first president to have a road named after him in Hialeah. A heavily Republican city, the vast majority of Hialeah residents are Hispanic and nearly 75 percent are Cuban.
As the meeting began, Bovo placed the Trump Avenue sign – autographed by the former president – at the front of the council’s chamber. Many residents arrived wearing red MAGA baseball hats and Trump-themed shirts.
“AN AMERICAN CITY”
Robert Gewanter, owner of a local liquor store, was one of the few residents who spoke out against the resolution to rename the road. Gewanter claimed that Trump’s long history of alleged corruption made the idea unthinkable. At one point, attendees interrupted Gewanter’s remarks, chanting “USA, USA!”
Another resident, Ferny Coipel, the chair of Hialeah’s Historic Preservation Board, proposed naming a road after former President Barack Obama.
“Absolutely not,” Councilman Carl Zogby said as he shot down the suggestion.
Mayor Bovo took an even harsher tone in response to Coipel’s idea. Bovo said former President Obama shook “the hand of the devil” during his 2016 trip to Havana when he met with then-Cuban President Raul Castro.
“Obama made Cuba great again,” Bovo said. “Trump made America great again.”
“This is an American city first and foremost,” Bovo added. “We may be a little different from other American cities, but we are an American city.”