As Washington is gripped by the supreme court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, some New York City leaders are attempting to change the name of a Brooklyn government building to honor a current justice: Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Kavanaugh, a conservative nominated by Donald Trump, would tip the supreme court to the right. In 25 years since her nomination by Bill Clinton, Ginsburg, now 85, has played a leading role on the left-leaning wing of the court. The second woman appointed, she describes herself as a “flaming feminist”.

“The life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a quintessential New York story,” said the Brooklyn borough president, Eric Adams, in a statement announcing the attempt to rename the Brooklyn Municipal Building, at the corner of Joralemon and Court streets.

“She rose to the apex of her profession, staying true to her ideals and principles. Ginsburg has become an icon, affectionately referred to as the ‘Notorious RBG’.”

Ginsburg grew up in the Flatbush neighborhood, the daughter of a Ukrainian Jewish immigrant and a first-generation New Yorker. She graduated first in her class from Columbia Law School, became the first female tenured professor there, then wrote the first law school textbook on gender discrimination.

“Having been a woman and being a Jew, I know what it’s like to be the object of unfair discrimination,” Ginsburg told an audience in Manhattan recently.

In 1970, Ginsburg founded the Women’s Rights Law Reporter. Two years later, she founded the Women’s Rights Law Project at the American Civil Liberties Union. On the court, she has been known for consistently advancing women’s and civil rights.

Antonin Scalia, the arch-conservative justice who was nonetheless a close friend until his death in 2016, described Ginsburg as “the leading (and very successful) litigator on behalf of women’s rights – the Thurgood Marshall of that cause, so to speak”.

The campaign to rename the Brooklyn building started as the Senate heard explosive testimony from Kavanaugh and Dr Christine Blasey Ford, who alleges Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were in high school. Kavanaugh denies the accusation.

The Brooklyn Bar Association, the Brooklyn Historical Association and Brooklyn Law School have endorsed the idea, as have progressive groups.

“Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a lifelong champion of women’s rights and sexual and reproductive rights,” said Christina Chang, chief external affairs officer for Planned Parenthood of New York City.

“She has always understood our right to make decisions about our bodies and our futures as fundamental to our equality in society.”

Adams has mounted an online petition. It says: “It is our understanding that an executive action by the Office of the Mayor is all that is needed to rename a public building, similar to the action [taken] to rename the Manhattan Municipal Building in honor of former mayor David Dinkins.

“With this understanding, we urge Mayor Bill de Blasio to rename [the] Brooklyn Municipal Building for the honorable supreme court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.”



