“Watch where yer driving! I’m walkin’ here!” is a common New York City colloquialism that has been spoofed to death in pop culture. Soon people might be shouting that at vehicles that bare the face of Stan Lee!
As we’ve spoken about in the recent past, Stan Lee has been given the keys to many cities, had holidays named after him, and is even getting his own street in New York City. Now, the Department of Motor Vehicles is having a vote for New York State residents to decide on new license plate designs. Four out of five of the new designs being voted on just so happen to have the Latin word EXCELSIOR printed across them.
Comicbook fans will immediately recognize the term as one of Stan Lee’s famous catchphrases he’d use to sign off his famous Bullpen Bulletins and Soapbox columns in Marvel comicbooks (along with ‘Nuff Said). Stan often shouted the word, which means “upward and onward to greater glory,” at comic con panels and lectures, and he even spoke it in one of his famous Marvel movie cameos, Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Although the word was made famous by Stan Lee, we suspect the reason it’s being placed on a New York license plate is that it also happens to be the official New York State motto. It’s a word Stan chose as his catchphrase not only because he liked the way it sounded and its meaning, but because he loved his home city and state—as seen by all the comicbooks he set there.
New York State residents can vote on the license plates until September 2nd HERE.
But there’s more to the story than meets the eye. Bronx Times reporter Alex Mitchell recently wrote an article petitioning for the state to not only put Excelsior on the new license plates, but Stan Lee himself!
In his article Mitchell speaks directly to the Governor, saying:
“Governor Cuomo, the Bronx Times Reporter encourages you and the NYS Department of Motor Vehicles to include our borough’s Stanley Martin Leiber (sic) on whichever version of the newest license plates are chosen to hit the road with.
Given his nature to cameo in many a Marvel film, our paper believes that having him pop up on a license plate is the perfect way to honor his legacy.
After all, he and his team did give plenty of nods to the beautiful New York state in many different ways.”
Mitchell goes on to list all the Marvel characters and stories Stan set in New York and even offers to have the Bronx Times design the license plate. Stan was raised on University Avenue in the Bronx, so it only makes sense that his neighborhood paper would petition such an honor for Stan’s iconic visage.
Here’s hoping some higher-ups notice the rollicking reporter’s request. While we’re giving out street names and license plates, might we also suggest getting an official Yancy Street in New York? Hey, it’s worth a shot, right?