San Jose Little Italy street renaming stirs up controversy

San Jose’s Little Italy is getting a street renamed in its honor, but not everyone in the neighborhood is happy.

The City Council on Tuesday will vote on renaming part of North Almaden Boulevard “Little Italy Way,” which is not the street the historic Italian American neighborhood originally preferred. The area’s nonprofit advocacy group had pushed for West St. John Street, the district’s main drag, but that stretch will instead become “Shark’s Way” after city leaders apparently favored their marquee hockey team in the race to shape the identity of downtown’s western gateway.

Little Italy San Jose President Joshua DeVincenzi Merlander, who steered an initial application to get West St. John Street earlier this year, is facing outcry from some business owners in the area. Merlander said his group’s name erroneously appeared on the more recent Sharks application to give “Little Italy Way” to North Almaden Boulevard.

“It’s being led by the city and Sharks as a consolation to us,” Merlander told San José Spotlight. “We’re fully supportive of (the Sharks-backed renaming plan). But our organization was only involved in applying for West St. John Street earlier this year, which we didn’t get. Our museum, our cultural center, Henry’s Hi-Life, which used to be a boarding house for Italian immigrants in the early 1900s — all those are going to have a Shark’s Way address.”

Representatives for Sharks Sports & Entertainment did not respond to requests for comment.

Merlander said his group has tried to make it clear they weren’t involved in the North Almaden application and didn’t pay any fee.

“We didn’t want any ill will with our property owners or small businesses,” he said.

That hasn’t kept his group out of people’s ire.

One of the renaming’s most vocal opponents is Alex Greer, a co-owner of 150 North Almaden LLC. He said he has no opinion on the original West St. John Street plan. He argues property owners across North Almaden oppose the renaming due to logistical headaches arising from address changes to legal contracts and other documents. He questions the neighborhood group’s denial of involvement. City documents show the planning department changed the applicant from Little Italy San Jose to the San Jose Sharks after receiving council direction.

“The application very clearly states that it was for ‘North Almaden Boulevard, north of West St John and South of Julian,'” Greer told San José Spotlight. “It wasn’t until after the owners and tenants of North Almaden Boulevard saw the posted permit and began asking very pointed questions about the application and the payee that a concerted effort was made to alter who the applicant was and who paid for the application.”

Pages of letters from local property owners, attached to the council meeting agenda, echo Greer’s objections.

“(One hundred percent) of the affected property owners and tenants of N Almaden Blvd oppose this application. There is no support among those directly impacted,” reads one letter co-signed by several neighbors. “To proceed despite unanimous opposition would disregard the voices of the very people most affected by this action.”

Merlander said it’s unclear to him how his organization ended up on the Sharks’ application.

“They’ve been fixed now. But we were never supposed to be the applicant for this exact reason. It’s been really stressful for us,” he said. “We’re just a nonprofit trying to preserve our history.”
Merlander and District 6 Councilmember Michael Mulcahy — who has familial ties to Little Italy — reached out to the city to clarify the source of the North Almaden application.

Mulcahy did not address the controversy when asked about it. He said the “Little Italy Way” renaming will help guide San Jose visitors through a corridor of cultural, entertainment and hospitality destinations.

“With global events like Super Bowl 60, NCAA March Madness and FIFA World Cup matches soon arriving, this corridor stands ready to welcome thousands of visitors from near and far,” he told San José Spotlight.

The San Jose City Council meets Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.

This story will be updated.

Contact Brandon Pho at [email protected] or @brandonphooo on X.