(JTA) — It’s party time in Brooklyn for Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s 86th birthday.
The New York City borough’s president, Eric Adams, is holding a bash Friday at the municipal building on the Supreme Court justice’s actual birthday. Adams has launched an initiative to have the building named for the borough native, who grew up in the Flatbush neighborhood.
The neo-classical building, which has landmark status and is fronted by stone, is less than a decade older than Ginsburg.
“This is definitely a 50 Cent ‘It’s your birthday’ moment,” Adams told the New York Daily News. “[Ginsburg] has reached an iconic status equivalent to Serena Williams and Beyonce’s fame.”
Partygoers can sign a card for Ginsburg, who does not appear to have RSVPed that she will be attending.
“She is a symbol of strength, a cancer survivor who has fought for women’s rights her entire life,” Adams told the Daily News. “We’ve talked about this and asked, ‘How do we honor such an icon?’ and it was simple — we make statues and name buildings after her.
“History can’t just be history, it has to be our story with (the borough’s) diversity and ethnicity.”
Adams began his push to change the building’s name in September.
A Change.org petition calls on the Mayor’s Office to sign off on the renaming of the building in Ginsburg’s honor, which is all that is necessary to make it happen. As of Monday afternoon, some 50,680 people had signed the petition.
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