Seattle Puts Up Bruce Lee Way Signs, and the Deputy Mayor Takes a Jab at the Bay Area
The honorary street signs went up on King Street in the Chinatown International District on 16 October, after a two-year effort led by a kung fu school.
Seattle has put up "Bruce Lee Way" street signs in the Chinatown International District, and the unveiling on Friday 16 October came with a proclamation and a pointed remark about the Bay Area.
KING 5 reports that the signs are posted along King Street between Sixth Avenue South and Maynard Avenue South. City Councilmember Eddie Lin sponsored the designation after a two-year effort led by the Jun Fan Gung Fu Academy, and Abe Santos organised it, according to The Seattle Times. Lion dancers from Seattle Shaolin Kungfu Academy performed at Hing Hay Park, where Lee's daughter Shannon Lee, president of the Bruce Lee Foundation, spoke.
Deputy Mayor Brian Surratt declared 16 October "Bruce Lee Way Day". The Seattle Times quotes him saying he wanted to throw "a little jab" at friends in the Bay Area, where Lee was born: "Bruce Lee is Seattle, and Seattle is Bruce Lee."
Lee came to Seattle in 1959 at 18, studied at the University of Washington, worked as a waiter at Ruby Chow's restaurant and started teaching martial arts there in 1960, per The Seattle Times. The Wing Luke Museum, a few blocks down King Street, has had an exhibit on his teachings since 2022. Santos said a statue is planned for the district.
KING 5 reports that the academy paid the estimated $2,500 cost of making and installing the signs.
