named after Saint Nicholas of Myra, patron saint of New Amsterdam since Dutch times. On September 30, 1956, an American pilot named Thomas Fitzpatrick landed a stolen plane near 191st Street in front of a New York City bar where earlier he had been drinking and made an intoxicated barroom bet that he could travel from New Jersey to New York City in 15 minutes. In 2000, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani signed a bill adding the name "Juan Pablo Duarte Boulevard" to St. Nicholas Avenue for the stretch from Amsterdam Avenue and West 162nd Street to the intersection of West 193rd Street and Fort George Hill. The added name was in honor of Juan Pablo Duarte, one of the founding fathers of the Dominican Republic. References External links Streets in Manhattan Odonyms referring to religion