So ironically, the Mercer sign above is incorrect by recent sign painting error, and the Houston sign is incorrect by a naming error over a century ago. But what’s in a name? A Rose by any other name would be Gladys or Susan.

But wait, the world is coming to an end this summer anyway, so why all the bother? See
http://staringatstrangers.typepad.com/staring_at_strangers/2008/04/the-end-of-the.html

Houston Street was named after John Houstoun (1744-1796), delegate to the Continental Congress and two-term governor of Georgia. The county in Georgia and the street in Atlanta are also spelled Houston but pronounced House-ton.

There used to be a sign at the corner of “Bleeker” and Leroy in the West Village…

The etiology is very different as well, as ‘Mercer’ denotes a family that procured mercenaries for the King, while ‘Merser’ denotes a family that spent much of their time immersed in water or other fluids, generally early sanitation worker clans.

The One-Way sign is at least pointing the right direction (South), but in another clear error, there is no graffiti or other vandalism visible at all.

Also it’s pronounced House-Ton not Hews-Ton and apparently the person it’s named after spelled their name slightly differently (Howston or something).