Brooklyn's Progress
April 2003

By Brooklyn Borough Hall

Borough President Marty Markowitz and Councilmember Tracy Boyland, Chair of the Women’s Issues Committee, celebrated National Women’s History Month by honoring some of Brooklyn’s most outstanding women.

“All of these women represent the very best of Brooklyn,” Borough President Markowitz said.  “Just like many others all across the borough, these honorees have achieved unprecedented levels of success while still giving so much of their time and energy back to making Brooklyn what it is today – the best place in the world to live and work.”

Brooklyn Chamber Member, Sally Krause, Co-Owner and Executive Chef of Charles, Sally and Charles Catering, was awarded the Emily Roebling Business Women’s Award, which is named after the de facto chief engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge from 1872 to 1883, who replaced her husband as the leader of the bridge’s construction crew after he fell sick.

Other honorees included:

Jacqueline Thomas-Andrews, Assistant Chief for Division I in the NYC Department of Correction, was awarded the Shirley Chisholm Leadership Award, which is named after the legendary African-American activist and leader who was the first black woman to win a seat in Congress and the first to run for the United States Presidency.

Brooklyn Civil Court Judge Margarita Lopez Torres, the first Hispanic woman elected to the Civil Court in New York and currently the only Latina Civil Court Brooklyn judge, was awarded the Lake Deborah Moody Civic Award, which is named after the founder of Gravesend, Brooklyn, the only permanent settlement in colonial America planned and run by women.

Violet Mitchell, who has served in City government for 30 years in a variety of high-level positions, was awarded the Lucille Mason Rose Community Activist Award, which is named after the woman who, in 1970, became New York City’s first female deputy mayor.

Yuko Nii, accomplished painter, printmaker, graphic designer, and founder of the Williamsburg Art & Historical Center, was awarded the Betty Smith Arts Award, which is named after the renowned Brooklyn playwright and author of “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.”

Flo Hirsch, Brooklyn Volunteer Coordinator for Visiting Nurse Services, Vice President of Flatlands Volunteer Ambulance and past Volunteer Director of the St. Bernard Senior Citizens, was awarded the Dr. Susan Smith McKinney Humanitarian Award, which is named after the first African-American physician in New York State, who practiced in Brooklyn from 1870 to 1895.