A New Coney Island hospital will be named after Ruth Bader Ginsburg

By Duncan Freeman

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was notorious for a lot of things. The Brooklyn-born jurist who spent much of her career as an advocate for gender equality and women’s rights died in September of last year. Her impact will live on, of course, and now, a newly built hospital in Coney Island will also bear her name.

The christening of the 11-story facility, which will be part of the Coney Island Hospital campus slated to open next year, was green-lighted in a unanimous vote by the NYC Health + Hospitals Board of Directors late last week. It is as much a nod to Ginsburg’s legacy as it is to her hometown roots.

“She was a Brooklyn girl through and through,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer in a statement. “In her name, NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health will continue her legacy of lifting up those without by providing invaluable and accessible health care to the South Brooklyn community and other surrounding communities for years to come.”

The new hospital building is being touted as the crown jewel of the renovated and recently-renamed NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health campus that will service 875,000 New Yorkers in the South Brooklyn community once fully operational.

Previously known as NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island, the South Brookly Health campus was heavily damaged during Superstorm Sandy. The new renovations are part of the massive $922.7 million awarded to New York by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to repair hospital infrastructure across the city. The redesigned campus will have a new elevated emergency department, large flood walls, state of the art operating rooms and new entrances from Ocean Parkway The new hospital building, which will join with the existing tower, is being constructed on the north side of the campus and, once completed, will be the first new building on the South Brooklyn campus since 2006.

“I’m thrilled to see this state-of-the-art facility opening in South Brooklyn as we build a recovery for all of us,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. “Even more fitting that one of its buildings is being renamed for a champion of progress and equality, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Her legacy will continue to live on in her hometown borough.”

Ginsburg grew up at 584 east 9th Street just a few blocks off Ocean Parkway in Midwood and graduated sixth in her class from James Madison High School. Throughout her time as a law student, lawyer, and judge Ginsburg emerged as one of the most progressive voices on divisive social issues, advancing the cause of gender and sex equality in the United States and defending abortion, voting and immigration rights, among others. In her later years on the Supreme Court Ginsburg became a celebrity with a cult following among liberals who dubbed her “The Notorious RBG,” adorning T-shirts, mugs, and more with her visage.

The Ginsburg family said that they’re “honored that this important public hospital is building on our mother and grandmother’s Brooklyn roots by giving her name to an institution that will serve so many of South Brooklyn’s health needs.”