UPDATE: San Jose Little Italy street renaming stirs up controversy

San Jose’s Little Italy is getting a street renamed in its honor, but few in the neighborhood are happy — except the San Jose Sharks.

The City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to rename a part of North Almaden Boulevard “Little Italy Way,” which is not the street the historic Italian American neighborhood originally wanted. The area’s nonprofit advocacy group had pushed for West St. John Street, the tiny district’s main drag. But that stretch will instead become “Shark’s Way” after city leaders favored their marquee hockey team in the race to shape the identity of downtown’s western gateway.

Little Italy San Jose President Joshua DeVincenzi Melander, who steered an initial application to get West St. John Street earlier this year, said at the meeting he never pushed for the North Alm