L-R: Trenelle Gabay (widow) and Aaron McNaughton (brother) of the late Carey Gabay hold commemorative street signs honoring the memory of their loved one in Clinton Hill
New York – Mayor Bill de Blasio and Council Member Laurie A. Cumbo co-named yesterday Clinton Avenue between Myrtle Avenue and Willoughby Avenue as Carey Gabay Way in honor of the former First Deputy Counsel for the Empire State Development Corporation, who lost his life last year hours before the J’Ouvert festival. He would have turned 44 yesterday.
Carey Gabay epitomized the American Dream being the son of Jamaican immigrants and growing up in public housing in the Bronx. Gabay attended New York City public schools through high school before graduating from Harvard University and Harvard Law School summa cum laude. While at Harvard, Gabay studied government and, during his senior year, was elected as the first black President of the Undergraduate Council, the main body of student government.
He started off his career practicing law in the private sector for several years before dedicating himself to public service. Gabay served as an assistant counsel to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and most recently as First Deputy Counsel for the Empire State Development Corporation, the State’s chief economic development agency.
Gabay was critically wounded while seeking cover after being caught in the crossfire between rival gangs in Brooklyn, hours before the start of the J’Ouvert festival in 2015. He is survived by his wife Trenelle Gabay; brother Aaron McNaughton; sisters Crystal Gabay-Nurse and Stephanie Gabay-Smith; his mother Audrey Hylton; father Nerval Gabay; and step-father Rupert McNaughton.
