Lawsuit Launched In Carson Effort

Two Kings County residents are asking a State Supreme Court judge to help force the City Council to rename a stretch of Gates Avenue in Brooklyn after Sonny Carson, the black community activist who died in 2002.

A Brooklyn community board voted to name the street for Carson, but the City Council speaker, Christine Quinn, removed the Carson naming proposal from a bill last week, calling him "divisive."

The plaintiffs, Robert Taylor and Ruth Carter, and their attorneys did not return messages seeking comment about the suit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court against Ms. Quinn and several other council members.

Ms. Quinn's spokeswoman, Maria Alvarado, said the council has the final say about whether to rename streets. "We fully expect that the judge will continue to defer to the legislative process," Ms. Alvarado said.