Venue

Brooklyn Borough Hall

209 Joralemon St, Brooklyn, NY 11201
brooklyn-usa.org

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Brooklyn Borough Hall, the original City Hall, is located on the north side of Joralemon Street, between Court and Adams streets. It houses the Brooklyn Borough President and is Brooklyn’s oldest public building.

Brooklyn Borough Hall was designed in 1835 by architect Gamaliel King, and constructed under the supervision of superintendent Stephen Haynes. It was completed in 1849 to be used as the City Hall of the City of Brooklyn. In January 1898 the independent City of Brooklyn was annexed into the City of New York and Kings County became the Borough of Brooklyn.

Construction on Brooklyn’s City Hall began in 1845 and continued until 1849. The Kings County Courthouse was built in 1868, turning this area (now known as Downtown Brooklyn) into a government center and busy area of commerce. In the 1940s, the Kings County Courthouse and other nearby buildings to the north were replaced by a complex of courthouses and a plaza in front of Borough Hall. A mall connects the building to Cadman Plaza Park.

On February 26, 1895, waste paper caught fire and destroyed the cupola and top floors of the building, and water damage ruined the walls and ceiling of the Common Council chamber. A flag crowned the building for the next 85 years, until the 1980s when the building was restored and the figure of Lady Justice was placed on top of a new cupola. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on 10 January 1980.