On Sunday, July 13th, Council Member James Vacca was joined by State Senator Jeff Klein, Assembly Member Mark Gjonaj and the family of Elias Karmon to officially co-name 
the intersection of Thwaites Place and Barker Avenue in Pelham Parkway as “Elias Karmon Way.”
“Elias Karmon devoted his life to the Bronx, and I think this tribute is the least we can do to repay the favor,” Vacca said. “Now ‘Mr. Bronx’ will be a part of the borough he loved forever.”
A businessman, philanthropist, and humanitarian, Elias Karmon was an active member of the Bronx community. After graduating from New York University, he worked as an accountant and as a clothing manufacturer and retailer. His business, Hollywood Clothes on Prospect Avenue, was a Bronx institution for over thirty years. Since 1940, he had served as president of EMK Enterprises, Inc., a Bronx real estate firm.
Karmon served on the board of numerous Bronx organizations, including Bronx House, South Bronx Mental Health Council, the Bronx Dance Theater, Bronx Community College Foundation, Beth Abraham Hospital Foundation, Bronx Jewish Community Council, Bronx Special Olympics, Bronx Boys and Girls Club and Bronx Y.M.C.A. He also served on the board and was President of the Pelham Parkway Jewish Center.
Karmon served as President of the Bronx Chamber of Commerce for four years, and also held the positions of Treasurer, Second Vice President and First Vice President of the organization at various times. He was also one of the founders of Ponce de Leon Federal Bank, which was one of the few institutions that provided financial services to South Bronx residents in the 1970s and 1980s; a board member of the South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation, one of the first organizations established to help rebuild the South Bronx; and a founding member and Chairman of The Bronx Branch of the Urban League. The Bronx colleges of CUNY also award an annual scholarship in his honor.
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