Herroner!
New RBG statue
unveiled at City Point
COURIER LIFE, MARCH 19-25, 2021 5
ALL RISE: A bronze statue of Ruth Bader Ginsburg by artist duo Gillie and Marc debuted at City Point in Downtown Brooklyn
on March 12. Photo by Kevin Duggan
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Local politicos unveiled a new statue of the late
United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader
Ginsburg at Downtown Brooklyn’s City Point shopping
mall on March 12 to honor the Brooklyn-born
pioneer.
“Justice Ginsburg is a product of this borough
and we are so proud of that,” said Brooklyn Democratic
Party boss and Flatbush Assemblymember
Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn at the March 12 ceremony.
“Ruth Bader Ginsburg played an absolutely
essential role in establishing modern law on equal
protection as it relates to equality between the
sexes. She is a role model to me and to everyone.”
The six-foot bronze statue lives at the Flatbush
Avenue Ext. entrance to the shopping campus and
was designed by international husband-and-wife
artist duo Gillie and Marc as part of their 2019 installation
“Statues for Equality” which set up 10
memorials in Manhattan of notable women like
Oprah Winfrey, P!nk, and Nicole Kidman.
After Ginsburg died last September, leaders of
the City Point complex worked with the sculptors
to bring the effi gy of the legal eagle to the development
in America’s Downtown, unveiling it just
three days ahead of what would have been her 88th
birthday on March 15.
Her likeness stands atop a base of two steps representing
her ascent to the highest court in the
land, according to the artists.
“With the two steps on its large base representing
the Supreme Court and the climb she made to
get there, the work is designed to provide the public
with an opportunity to stand at her side, and gain inspiration
from her journey fi ghting for equal rights,”
Gillie and Marc said in a joint statement.
The pioneering judge was born in Brooklyn in
1933. She grew up in Midwood and was in the class
of 1950 at nearby James Madison High School.
Borough President Eric Adams said he hoped the
statue — which is only the seventh in the city of a
nonfi ctional woman — would inspire Kings Countians
to learn more about one of the borough’s proudest
daughters and push offi cials to install more tributes
to great female fi gures.
“To see that this is just the seventh statue depicting
a woman from history when women have played
such a major role in this city, that is something that
is unacceptable and we’re going to continue to roll
out more and more statues throughout this entire
city,” said Adams, who is also running to be the
city’s next mayor. “We want young girls and boys
to walk through these doors and ask their parents,
‘Who is this woman, what does she represent?’”
The beep’s offi ce has pushed for honoring Ginsburg
since 2018 when Borough Hall fl oated the proposal
to rename the Municipal Building on Joralemon
and Court streets after her, which Mayor Bill
de Blasio endorsed after her death last year.
Meanwhile, another statue of Ginsburg was
planned by Gov. Andrew Cuomo for Brooklyn
Bridge Park, but the state’s chief executive — mired
in mounting twin scandals of sexual harassment
and covering up nursing home deaths — has not
publicly indicated any progress on those plans since
establishing a commission last fall.
The new Ruth Bader Ginsburg statue will be open
to visitors daily at City Point’s Flatbush Avenue Ext. entrance
near Fleet Street from 10 am–8 pm daily. Free.