Long Island street honoring KKK leader renamed after student-led effort

LONG ISLAND - A street that honored a leader of the Ku Klux Klan on Long Island has been renamed after a campaign led by high school students.

The village board of Malverne, in Hempstead, voted last year to rename Lindner Place, named after Paul Lindner, a banker who helped develop the village more than a century ago and also served as great titan of the New York State Klan.

A newspaper article about Paul Lindner, a banker who helped develop the village more than a century ago and also served as great titan of the New York State Klan. 

The change became official last week when Lindner Place became Acorn Way.

Students had been pressing for the street name to be changed in school forums and with the village board, which voted to change the name in September 2022.

However, the move was met with pushback from some local community members on social media, who said the street sign should be left alone.

"History is not yours to erase - it’s here for you to learn from," one post said.

A newspaper article about Paul Lindner, a banker who helped develop the village more than a century ago and also served as great titan of the New York State Klan. 

However, on January 26, the new Acorn Way street sign was unveiled.

Lorna Lewis, Malverne’s schools superintendent, told the Long Island Herald, "I believe you’ve just witnessed the power of the Maverick public education and what our students can do when supported in their pursuit of civic engagement."

Many Americans associate the Ku Klux Klan with the South, but the group's rallies and cross-burnings drew large crowds in New York in the 1920s. The Klan of that era targeted Catholic and Jewish communities and Black people.

With the Associated Press.