Little Italy San Jose President Joshua DeVincenzi Merlander supports the renaming of North Almaden Boulevard to "Little Italy Way," but wanted West St. James Street at the entrance to the neighborhood renamed instead. (Google image via San Jose Spotlight)
SAN JOSE’S LITTLE ITALY is getting a street renamed in its honor, but few in the neighborhood are happy — except the San Jose Sharks.
The City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to rename a part of North Almaden Boulevard “Little Italy Way,” which is not the street the historic Italian American neighborhood originally wanted. The area’s nonprofit advocacy group had pushed for West St. John Street, the tiny district’s main drag. But that stretch will instead become “Shark’s Way” after city leaders favored their marquee hockey team in the race to shape the identity of downtown’s western gateway.
Little Italy San Jose President Joshua DeVincenzi Melander, who steered an initial application to get West St. John Street earlier this year, said at the meeting he never pushed for the North Almaden renaming. But he’s facing outcry anyway from some business owners in the area who spoke out against it on Tuesday. Melander 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,” Melander 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 comment on the tug-of-war over West St. John Street before the vote. Neither did Sharks Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Chris Shay, who in public comment hailed the North Almaden renaming as an honor to Little Italy’s legacy — and a complement to the new Sharks Way.
“Together they stitch districts to create a stronger sense of arrival into our downtown with major events ahead. This alignment will enhance the visitor experience and encourage exploration of our restaurants, parks and entertainment venues,” Shay said at the meeting. “This is more than a name change, it’s an investment in downtown’s future.”
Melander 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.
Property owners protested
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.
Mayor Matt Mahan apologized to business owners for any impacts they’d absorb through the renaming.
“We do take business impacts seriously,” Mahan said at the meeting. “We can’t always mitigate all of them, but it’s worth sharing and it’s an honest perspective and it’s something we also need to be mindful of whenever we pass a new rule or ordinance or change policy.”
Greer questions Little Italy San Jose’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.
“This is more than a name change, it’s an investment in downtown’s future.”
Chris Shay, San Jose Sharks senior vice president of government affairs
“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.
Greer reiterated to councilmembers what he told this news outlet earlier this week.
“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,” Greer said.
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.”
Application confusion
Melander 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.”
Melander 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 San José Spotlight asked him about it before the meeting. He also rejected calls from speakers at the meeting to recuse himself from the renaming vote, as he is related to the DiNapoli family whose members sit on Little Italy San Jose’s board.
“I do not plan to recuse myself,” Mulcahy said before the vote. “I have no ownership interest as was stated by one of our speakers.”
He said the “Little Italy Way” renaming will help guide San Jose visitors through a corridor of cultural, entertainment and hospitality destinations.
“Little Italy is part of the transformation of an important quadrant of our city. Little Italy is more than a destination — it’s a thriving and living dedication to the Italian American heritage in our region,” Mulcahy said at the meeting.
Contact Brandon Pho at brandon@sanjosespotlight.com or @brandonphooo on X.
San Jose’s Little Italy neighborhood bristles over street renaming to honor hockey team
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SAN JOSE’S LITTLE ITALY is getting a street renamed in its honor, but few in the neighborhood are happy — except the San Jose Sharks.
The City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to rename a part of North Almaden Boulevard “Little Italy Way,” which is not the street the historic Italian American neighborhood originally wanted. The area’s nonprofit advocacy group had pushed for West St. John Street, the tiny district’s main drag. But that stretch will instead become “Shark’s Way” after city leaders favored their marquee hockey team in the race to shape the identity of downtown’s western gateway.
Little Italy San Jose President Joshua DeVincenzi Melander, who steered an initial application to get West St. John Street earlier this year, said at the meeting he never pushed for the North Almaden renaming. But he’s facing outcry anyway from some business owners in the area who spoke out against it on Tuesday. Melander 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,” Melander 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 comment on the tug-of-war over West St. John Street before the vote. Neither did Sharks Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Chris Shay, who in public comment hailed the North Almaden renaming as an honor to Little Italy’s legacy — and a complement to the new Sharks Way.
“Together they stitch districts to create a stronger sense of arrival into our downtown with major events ahead. This alignment will enhance the visitor experience and encourage exploration of our restaurants, parks and entertainment venues,” Shay said at the meeting. “This is more than a name change, it’s an investment in downtown’s future.”
Melander 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.
Property owners protested
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.
Mayor Matt Mahan apologized to business owners for any impacts they’d absorb through the renaming.
“We do take business impacts seriously,” Mahan said at the meeting. “We can’t always mitigate all of them, but it’s worth sharing and it’s an honest perspective and it’s something we also need to be mindful of whenever we pass a new rule or ordinance or change policy.”
Greer questions Little Italy San Jose’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.
Greer reiterated to councilmembers what he told this news outlet earlier this week.
“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,” Greer said.
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.”
Application confusion
Melander 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.”
Melander 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 San José Spotlight asked him about it before the meeting. He also rejected calls from speakers at the meeting to recuse himself from the renaming vote, as he is related to the DiNapoli family whose members sit on Little Italy San Jose’s board.
“I do not plan to recuse myself,” Mulcahy said before the vote. “I have no ownership interest as was stated by one of our speakers.”
He said the “Little Italy Way” renaming will help guide San Jose visitors through a corridor of cultural, entertainment and hospitality destinations.
“Little Italy is part of the transformation of an important quadrant of our city. Little Italy is more than a destination — it’s a thriving and living dedication to the Italian American heritage in our region,” Mulcahy said at the meeting.
Contact Brandon Pho at brandon@sanjosespotlight.com or @brandonphooo on X.
This story originally appeared in San Jose Spotlight.