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NYC's 7th Female Historical Statue Honors Ruth Bader Ginsburg
By
Jen Carlson
Published Mar 9, 2021
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Photo courtesy of Statues of Equality
By
Jen Carlson
Published Mar 9, 2021
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Last summer, New York City's sixth statue honoring a real woman (as opposed to statues of fictional characters) was unveiled in Central Park, an event that came 105 years after the first female historical statue was erected. This week, the city will unveil its 7th statue depicting a real woman, this time honoring the late US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
This will be the first of two statues in Ginsburg's home city of New York, and will be located at City Point in Downtown Brooklyn. While it's indoors, it will be on view to the public from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. We were told it is "in a publicly accessible area at the Flatbush Ave entrance."
In response to our inquiry about the location, we were told it was selected by the artists — "The location was chosen because you can see it from Flatbush as you enter Brooklyn from the Manhattan Bridge, which is a prominent way to celebrate Justice Ginsburg who was self-proclaimed 'born and bred in Brooklyn.'"
According to an email announcing the unveiling, "This statue was created prior to Justice Ginsburg's passing with her knowledge/consent and is not the statue Governor Cuomo planned to create and announced to the public." Last year, Cuomo announced a separate statue honoring RBG, which may or may not be coming to Brooklyn Bridge Park.
READ MORE: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Honored With Mural In The East Village
The statue that will be unveiled this Friday (three days before what would have been her 88th birthday) was created by artists Gillie and Marc, who said, "We had the honor and privilege to create Justice Ginsburg’s dignified likeness in everlasting bronze as a part of Statues for Equality. 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 fighting for equal rights."
Visitors will be able to stand on the steps in order to take a photo with the statue.
Over the past few years, the city has finally been addressing the lack of statues representing real women here; for comparison, there are around 145 more male historical statues than female. There were previously zero statues representing real women in Central Park, before last year's installment of one featuring Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. In addition to that statue, the others representing real women around the city are: Joan of Arc, Golda Meir, Gertrude Stein, Eleanor Roosevelt, Harriet Tubman, and soon: Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
READ MORE: A Brief History Of Female Historical Statues In New York City
Future statues planned include Shirley Chisholm, Billie Holiday, Elizabeth Jennings Graham, Dr. Helen Rodríguez Trías, and Katherine Walker.
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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