Join the Councilman Justin Brannan and local elected officials in the official street renaming of the intersection of 78th Street and Ridge Boulevard as Joanne Seminara Way.

Joanne Seminara was a force for reform, civics, and activism in Bay Ridge for decades. An attorney practicing elder law for Grimaldi Yeung Law Group, she was a guiding light for Bay Ridge progressives, activists, and civic reformers.

Before it was cool, Seminara stood up to machine politics in Brooklyn, running on reform slates before the establishment of New Kings Democrats, and subsequently supporting joining with them to oppose the worst tendencies of the party as an Executive Committee member. She herself ran for office three times, taking the fight to entrenched Republican State Senator Marty Golden at the height of his power.

It wasn’t all politics. She served as an even-handed civic guru to our local Community Board, acting as a member of Brooklyn CB10 for over twenty years, and serving as it’s first female chair from 2010 to 2013.

We interviewed Joanne shortly before her death in 2022 for our episode exploring our local Community Board. Whenever we asked around about who would be an excellent source of information, everyone simply we simply MUST talk to Joanne. Ever gracious and a font of civic knowledge, she had the respect of our entire podcast team.

Join us as we permanently honor Joanne’s legacy in Bay Ridge.