Council approves street co-naming for ‘Bishop Kearney Way’

BENSONHURST — Bishop Kearney High School closed its doors forever in August, but the school’s legacy will remain for generations to come, thanks to the City Council’s passage of legislation to co-name the intersection outside the building in honor of the now-shuttered educational institution.

On Dec. 18, the Council passed a bill to co-name 55 streets and intersections around the city after prominent New Yorkers and institutions, including “Bishop Kearney Way” on the southwest corner of Bay Parkway and 60^th Street.

Bishop Kearney High School, which was located at 2202 60^th St., was a Catholic high school for girls. It opened in 1961 and closed on August 31, three months after its Board of Trustees announced the closure and cited declining enrollment and escalating costs as the main reasons for the decision.

Councilmember Justin Brannan, who sponsored the bill, said he wanted to pay tribute to the school’s 58-year history of educating young women.

“Since 1961, Bishop Kearney High School was truly a south Brooklyn institution. For 58 years, Bishop Kearney gave generations of young women a solid Catholic education,” said Brannan, a Democrat representing Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and parts of Bensonhurst.

“Many graduates went on to win big-time college scholarships. Today, you will find Kearney alumni in the thousands in high-powered public and private careers all across the tri-state area and beyond. We honor the entire Bishop Kearney alumni family, students, teachers and parents with this great street co-naming so the school’s legacy, the memories and the friendships made on this corner will never been forgotten,” Brannan said.

The school was named in memory of Bishop Raymond Kearney (1902-1956), who served as the auxiliary bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn from 1935 until his death. It was founded by the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph, an order of nuns.

Shortly after the school closed, Brannan and State Sen. Andrew Gounardes wrote a letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza suggesting that the city open a new specialized high school at the site.

“In southern Brooklyn, we have a large number of high-achieving students who would greatly benefit from attending school closer to home,” Gounardes said at the time.

Additional reporting by Meaghan McGoldrick