Who's William Gray?

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You mean, he was another sleazy politician who is honored because he, like the others, sucker us into thinking they are doing us a big favor by having us pay the taxes then giving some of it back to us as "federal grants", "new roads", etc, etc. "My congressman is great. He got us a big grant for our town and it didn't cost us anything!"
In the case of Representative Gray, he was certainly was a politician, and with that tag comes lots of positive and negative connotations. But, he was also a pioneering African-American politician in the Philadelphia area. He rose to leadership rolls in the House that were firsts for African-Americans. He led efforts concerning apartheid in South Africa. And, specific to this topic, he was also a leader in obtaining Amtrak funding. While I tend to agree that naming well known facilities after politicians is often politicians simply patting another politician on the back, if that is going to be done, Representative Gray was not a bad choice.
 
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Nobody--and I mean absolutely nobody--calls it anything but 30th Street Station locally.
 
Nor do I say that I am flying into Thurgood Marshall. I say I am flying into BWI.
Oh...you mean Friendship.....
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Or Idlewild?
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JFK may actually be the exception to the rule. The IATA code is the same as the politicians initials, unlike DCA, BWI etc etc, and most people don’t know/realize that the airport was ever named something else. And before the boards literalist/joy snatchers chime in I fully understand that PRR 60 was probably being sarcastic or tongue in cheek.
 
I also call National Airport, and Baltimore Washington Airport instead of their political names. But other airports I just call by the city name, Atlanta, Charlotte. While others I call by the call letters JFK, LAX, SFO,
 
Or Idlewild?
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JFK may actually be the exception to the rule. The IATA code is the same as the politicians initials, unlike DCA, BWI etc etc, and most people don’t know/realize that the airport was ever named something else. And before the boards literalist/joy snatchers chime in I fully understand that PRR 60 was probably being sarcastic or tongue in cheek.
It helps to be a certain age. I'm wondering how many Google searches were made for Idlewild? And, 30th Street will never be called Gray Station in conversation between real people.
 
One of the few airports I know that are called by their “new” name by locals is TF Green in Providence, RI. TF Green was a RI Senator.

I still call the Glens Falls, NY Airport the Warren County Airport, not the “new” name of Floyd Bennett Memorial Airport. Floyd Bennett was a person from this local area, who was the first person to walk to the North Pole. (He was on Robert Byrd’s team and it was determined that during a walk one night that he crossed the North Pole. But because it was Byrd’s expedition, Byrd got the credit.)
 
I also call National Airport, and Baltimore Washington Airport instead of their political names. But other airports I just call by the city name, Atlanta, Charlotte. While others I call by the call letters JFK, LAX, SFO,
There are some airports like O'hare, Love, Hobby, Dulles that are commonly called by a person's name I can't think of an Amtrak station commonly known by a person's name rather than the city name. Nobody calls Wilmington DE "Biden Station."
 
One of the few airports I know that are called by their “new” name by locals is TF Green in Providence, RI. TF Green was a RI Senator.
That’s because, due to New England’s compactness and interconnectivity, Providence is served by two airports: TF Green and Boston Logan.I took the T Purple Line from Providence Station to catch a flight from TF Green earlier this year and wanted to know which platform to stand on. I approached the Amtrak agent and said, “Which track will the train to the airport be on?” He directed me to a platform where an empty train to Boston idled. With the terrified confusion of an intermodal traveler, I returned to the window and asked him again. He said, “Oh, you mean TF Green.”
 
Usually those cases of an airport being known by a name instead of by the city it's in are because that city has more than one "major" airport (e.g. Midway/O'Hare, JFK/LaGuardia, Dulles/National (Reagan), De Gaulle/Orly, George Bush/Hobby, DFW/Love etc.), necessitating a distinction. In those cases where this isn't the case, it's generally because it was the case in the past (Montreal comes to mind, with Trudeau/Mirabel...Mirabel is gone but there was ) and/or there was a significant overlap during a transition. I'm trying to think of a case other than (sort-of) Providence that qualifies.
 
I also call National Airport, and Baltimore Washington Airport instead of their political names. But other airports I just call by the city name, Atlanta, Charlotte. While others I call by the call letters JFK, LAX, SFO,
There are some airports like O'hare, Love, Hobby, Dulles that are commonly called by a person's name I can't think of an Amtrak station commonly known by a person's name rather than the city name. Nobody calls Wilmington DE "Biden Station."
Thank goodness [emoji14]
 
I also call National Airport, and Baltimore Washington Airport instead of their political names. But other airports I just call by the city name, Atlanta, Charlotte. While others I call by the call letters JFK, LAX, SFO,
There are some airports like O'hare, Love, Hobby, Dulles that are commonly called by a person's name I can't think of an Amtrak station commonly known by a person's name rather than the city name. Nobody calls Wilmington DE "Biden Station."
Washngton, Jackson, Charlotte, Houston etc etc are all named after people.
 
Some Moynihan proponents wanted to rename the entire Penn Station - New York into Moynihan Station originally, instead of just the new concourse under the old GPO....

Thankfully, that idea was shot down....it wouldn't have worked anyway, as New Yorker's hang on to the names they are familiar with.
 
One of the few airports I know that are called by their “new” name by locals is TF Green in Providence, RI. TF Green was a RI Senator.

I still call the Glens Falls, NY Airport the Warren County Airport, not the “new” name of Floyd Bennett Memorial Airport. Floyd Bennett was a person from this local area, who was the first person to walk to the North Pole. (He was on Robert Byrd’s team and it was determined that during a walk one night that he crossed the North Pole. But because it was Byrd’s expedition, Byrd got the credit.)
Floyd Bennett Field, in Brooklyn, NY, was New York City's first commercial airport....before New York Municipal (LGA), even...prior to its opening, all commercial flights went to Newark Airport. It only served commercial flights for a few years before Municipal opened, then became a Naval base.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floyd_Bennett_Field
 
It helps to be a certain age.
It sure does!

I'm wondering how many Google searches were made for Idlewild?
Idlewild? Got it.

I'm still waiting for Wold-Chamberlain to be used in any sort of general conversation...
Wold-Chamberlain? Got it.

Ohare is an airport I call by its letters actually. To me it's ORD. I'm not a super large fan of it because I've spent the night there.
ORD? Of course, got it, but also know where the D in O'Hare came from.
 
As much as I dislike airports, I have always called Phoenix's by its name - Sky Harbor - because I think it's a cool name.
 
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