The New York City real estate company had attempted to rebrand 110th Street to 125th Street in South Harlem as "SoHa" a month back, even creating a SoHa team to attract new residents to the historically black neighborhood. But community leaders and residents alike had spoken out against the name change, which they saw as a sign of gentrification.
Now, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Keller Williams has dropped the team and stopped their SoHa rebranding.
"The team has a passion for the people, the history and the culture of the neighborhood they also call home," a spokesperson for Keller Williams said to the Wall Street Journal. "With respect to the neighborhood and people of Harlem, they will change their team name at Keller Williams NYC."
On Friday, newly-elected New York State Sen. Brian Benjamin announced the introduction of a bill hitting back at realtors, retailers, and developers hoping to rebrand South Harlem, with the legislation making it harder to change a neighborhood’s name. Prior to becoming senator, Benjamin was chair of Community Board 10, which launched a campaign to stop the use of the name SoHa.
