This street is named in honor of the great civil rights activist Malcolm X (1925-1965), who lived on this block of 97th Street between 23rd and 24th Avenues with his wife, Betty Shabaaz, and their four daughters. The family moved into this small home in 1960 and lived here for five years before Malcolm was assassinated in 1965. One week before his assassination in Harlem, the home was firebombed. The house at that time was owned by the Nation of Islam; at present, it is privately owned.