I assume 16th Street is named after Louis XVI and therefore renaming it for Ronald Reagan would only cause further deterioration in US/French relations.
However, Mark Krikorian’s general view is absolutely right. The renaming of pre-existing streets, buildings, etc, is wrong and generally a sign of an ahistorical present-tense culture. The only street renaming I’ve ever seen that I approved of was that used in post-Communist Budapest. They commissioned new street signs restoring the original names but underneath they put the old Commie names – “Karl Marx Street,” “Lenin Square,” etc – with big red lines scored through them: in other words, never forget. That makes the point as clearly as anything: renaming is an act of state vandalism.
Would say more but they’re calling my flight at Idlewild…