New York intersection officially renamed Sesame Street

Visitors to New York can now get to Sesame Street by heading to 63rd Street and Broadway.

That’s because city officials have renamed the Manhattan intersection in honour of the 50th birthday of the much-loved children’s television programme.

The change, at the location where the Sesame Workshop is based, was unveiled by Mayor Bill de Blasio in a ceremony attended by characters from the show including Big Bird, Cookie Monster and Elmo.

The children’s educational show, which first aired back in November 1969, has been praised for its representation of ethnic diversity in the city as well as its treatment of social issues.

De Blasio said: “The show made a choice long before most of the media had done it to show all of us, to represent all the people that make up our society, to show black and brown faces, young and old, male and female, and everyone on an equal footing.

“For my children, that was profoundly important. My children, growing up in a multiracial family, to see the whole world presented through Sesame Street, was part of their growth, was part of how they gained a sense of their place in the world.”

It marks the second time a street in New York has been given the name Sesame Street, as a similar honour was given 10 years ago to mark the show’s 40th anniversary.

That was a temporary change, though – and this time the switch is permanent.