So how close to a Metrorail station do you need to be in order to realistically claim a spot on its name placard? We wonder, considering how far away Benjamin Banneker Park can be from L’Enfant Plaza.

The City Paper’s Lydia DePillis — who also has an excellent piece in this week’s issue discussing changes to Metro station names and signage, certainly not a foreign discussion topic around these parts — wrote about ANC 6D’s consideration of a request to add “Banneker Memorial” to the L’Enfant Plaza Metrorail station name. Problem is, the memorial in question hasn’t actually been built yet (and no one’s really holding their breath), so the Council’s request hinges totally on the fact that “the southern end of the promenade over which the station sits was designated in 1971 as Benjamin Banneker Park.”

The small park, located inside a traffic circle, is officially located at 10th & G Streets SW. L’Enfant Plaza has entrances on D Street between 6th and 7th Streets SW, on the corner of Maryland Avenue and 7th Street NW and at 9th and D Streets SW, the closest exit to the park proper. Those exiting the station at the northern-most Maryland and 7th exit have a solid five-block walk to the park.

Look, a prominent tribute to Banneker is, frankly, long-overdue in this town. But doesn’t placing a name on a Metro Station — one of the busiest in the city, no less — seem like a bit of a stretch?