NEW YORK CITY — Manhattan just got "The Greatest" new sign.
The street outside Madison Square Garden has been temporarily dubbed Mohammad Ali Way in honor of the legendary heavyweight champion and activist who passed away last Friday at the age of 74, the Mayor's Office announced on Tuesday.
The stretch of sidewalk on West 33rd Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues now bears Ali's name.
“Muhammad Ali was a champion, activist and the self-proclaimed Greatest,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement on Tuesday.
“Throughout his life he lived up to that title again and again — and today, we are paying tribute to the man in the heart of this City.”
Ali fought in eight matches at Madison Square Garden, including the historic “fight of the century” against Joe Frazier in 1971.
A public funeral service is scheduled in his hometown of Louisville, Ky., on Friday, and will be followed by a procession that will pass by his boyhood home.
New Yorkers took to Twitter to celebrate the unveiling.
Always will be #TheGreatest pic.twitter.com/3HXHnBKX15
— Sylvia Hebron (@SylviaHebron) June 8, 2016
CLASS: West 33rd St. in NYC is now renamed 'Muhammad Ali Way' in honor of the legend himself#TheGreatestOfAllTime pic.twitter.com/suiD1OwlvQ
— Paul Silky Jones (@PSilkyJones) June 7, 2016
Miracle On 33rd Street #MuhammadAliWay #NYC https://t.co/k5PgjDtuiv
— Albert Grindstein™ (@animalsteele) June 7, 2016
