Selfless Neighbor, Activist Honored In Bond Street Block Naming

BROOKLYN, NY — A lifelong Gowanus resident and activist is being remembered with a block in her honor.

Rita Saunders will be the new namesake of a stretch of Bond Street between Baltic and Butler streets abutting the Gowanus Houses complex where she lived her whole life.

To be known as "Rita Saunders Way," the street is one of more than 70 ceremonial "co-namings" across the five boroughs approved by the City Council last week.

Saunders, who lived in Gowanus Houses her whole life, is credited as a pillar of her family and community.

At the age of 16, she became the guardian of her six siblings after her mother died of breast cancer.

Her selflessness extended to the community at-large later in her life, when she began volunteering at P.S. 32, her former elementary school, and became a fixture of the Gowanus Tenants Association.

Saunders was known for feeding homeless people from her own kitchen and intervening in neighborhood street fights.

A lifelong community leader, she is remembered as an endless source of positivity and inspiration.

A petition to co-name a Brooklyn street in Saunders' honor was brought to the community by her sister earlier this year, prompting people to line up around the block to sign the petition, The Brooklyn Eagle reported.

The bill to co-name the corner of Bond Street between Baltic and Butler streets was introduced by north Brooklyn Council Member Lincoln Restler.

A date for unveiling the block's new street sign has not yet been announced.