New Delhi: New York’s friendly neighbourhood superhero now has a street named after him. Near his comic-book address in Queens, fans can now walk along the Spider-Man Way, unveiled on October 12 at the intersection of Ascan Avenue and Ingram Street in Forest Hills.
The road was named after the Marvel superhero following an initiative by New York City Council member Lynn Schulman, after New York State Assembly member Sam Berger advocated for the move.
Spider-Man first appeared in Amazing Fantasy issue 15 in August 1962. The character was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, with Lee writing the story and Ditko providing the artwork. His own comic series, The Amazing Spider-Man, began in March 1963.
Forest Hills became part of Spider-Man’s comic-book story in The Amazing Spider-Man issue seven, published in December 1963. His address, 20 Ingram Street, was revealed in 1989; the real house, though, is privately owned by Jack Shi.
“Gentle, kind, brave, everyone likes it,” Shi said, while sharing about Spider-Man.
Nick Lowe, editor of the Spider-Man comics, attended the dedication and spoke about the character’s continued popularity.
“Seeing all these kids running around here, it’s magical that this character created in 1962 still means something today,” he said.
Spider-Man’s popularity has also translated into box-office success over the years. From Tobey Maguire’s first Spider-Man film in 2002 to Andrew Garfield’s Amazing Spider-Man (2012) to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s blockbuster Spider-Man: Brand New Day, starring Tom Holland, the superhero has remained a fan favourite. Brand New Day even earned $932 million worldwide and $360 million domestically in its opening weekend, setting a record for the biggest domestic opening weekend at the time.
The film’s opening also surpassed the domestic opening-weekend record previously held by Avengers: Endgame (2019). The latest Spider-Man film became one of the biggest theatrical openings in Hollywood.
Mark Ditko, nephew of Steve Ditko, also attended the event and shared how the character was created.
“The DNA of Joe Simon, Jack Kirby and Ditko collided, and Spider-Man was born. I have to believe that no one would imagine what he would eventually become,” he said.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)