Shae Kims Memorial Park mystery solved! (or, at least, it appears so); GoogleMaps pranked

Has the mystery of the name of the federally owned National Park Service park -- Shae Kims Memorial Park adjacent to Big Bear Cafe -- finally been solved?

See this message from Bloomingdame: 

Maps are my new obsession, and I spend a lot of time looking at the ones that include our neighborhood.

Last year, I noticed a name – Shae Kims Memorial Park -- for the small triangular park across from Big Bear Cafe that I did not recognize. I Googled the name and came up with nothing. Last summer, the name was used in a press release from the Mayor's office, and our local blogger, Scott, posted that he did not know the origin of the name. He didn't get any feedback. 

Since the park is a US reservation, I contacted the US Parks office, and all they gave me was the Reservation number. I contacted the DC office who sent out the press release, and they could not help. Next up, our Ward Councilmember's office - still nothing.  

This morning, I noticed that the park across Florida Avenue NW -- which most of us just refer to as the "Florida Avenue Park" -- had a name of Larsinda Banks Park. I Googled that. Finally, a hit! And a link to the other name of Shae Kims.

I think it is safe to say that both park names are part of a prank, related to a prank website -- a DC DMV joke website.

Not sure how the prankster got Google to use the names on their map.... I wonder if there are other triangle parks in DC that have prank names. If not, that may be a clue that the prankster is local.

View Parks in a larger map

Here is a link to a Washington City Paper story on the DC DMV joke website:
                                         

The First DMV Joke to Cross the Line?

Posted by Sarah Godfrey on Apr. 11, 2006 at 12:16 pm

The link referenced in the story is invalid; here is the correct link. 

Here is the direct link to Shae Kims' name at this DC DMV joke website:

Shae Kims
Star Employee, 1999, 2000, 2006, 2008 and 2010

Ms. Kims was DCDMV director for three years and is the most storied and talked about employee of the agency. Known for her abrupt and rude style, Ms. Kims is a heavy hitter that gets the job done or assigns it to someone that will. It was Shae herself that introduced the highly successful DCDMV Fried Chicken program originally at the Brookland DCDMV. Ms. Kims is a Washington, DC native and enjoys smoking cigarettes near entrances and reading National Enquirer on the Metro. Ms. Kims has three daughters, Sharae, Sinead and Shashae.Ms. Kims was tragically killed by an unmanned street sweeper on January 1st, 2011 near First Street and Florida Avenue. Mayor Vincent Grey decided to dedicate the nearby park in her honor. Shae Kims Memorial Park is located at 111 Florida Avenue, NW and is open daily.

And here is the direct link to the name of Larsinda Banks. 

(cringing in my chair posting this...)