The city will rename the Brooklyn Municipal Building on Joralemon Street after the late United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday.
“We want to make sure we honor her in every conceivable way and especially in the borough that she came from that gave her so much of her strength and spirit, the borough of Brooklyn,” de Blasio said at his Sept. 22 press briefing. “So today I’m proud to announce that we will rename the Brooklyn Municipal Building after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.”
Hizzoner said the rechristened building at the corner of Court Street will inspire locals by paying tribute to a Brooklynite who became a trailblazer in the nation’s highest court.
“What an extraordinary opportunity to say to the people of Brooklyn, ‘Here’s one of your own, who changed the world, here’s someone of and, by and, and for Brooklyn and this city who did greatest things on the world stage and that building will carry her name forever more,’” the mayor said.
De Blasio added the Downtown building was a fitting location given the Black Lives Matter mural on the street in front of it, connecting the current movements for racial justice to Justice Ginsburg, who grew up in Midwood and died on Friday at the age of 87.
“I think if anyone would appreciate both the value of public service and what government does for our people and at this moment in history connected to a message of fairness and equality that you see there before you, Black Lives Matter, I am certain Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg would feel something very very special,” he said.
De Blasio’s announcement follows calls by Borough President Eric Adams and other local officials to rechristen the building, a tribute the beep first floated in 2018.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed erecting a statue of the late legal eagle in Brooklyn Bridge Park Monday, saying he will launch a commission to work on the monument this week.
This story first appeared on our sister publication brooklynpaper.com.
