City Street Renamed In Honor Of 102-Year-Old Human Rights Legend

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Maps of New Rochelle will now reflect the city's place in history and honor a local legend's remarkable legacy.

On May 19, the City of New Rochelle, along with members of the Bayberry neighborhood association, students from New Rochelle High School, community partners and elected officials honored the legacy of longtime New Rochelle resident Benjamin B. Ferencz with an honorary street naming, at the corner of Bayberry Lane and High Ridge Road.

In December of last year, New Rochelle's City Council voted unanimously to honor Ferencz who has been internationally known since 1945 when he was appointed Chief Prosecutor for the U.S. in the Einsatzgruppen Case, one of the subsequent Nuremberg trials, and for his advocacy for international law and global peace that continues today. Ferencz has recently voiced his support for Ukraine and joined in with others to advocate for the creation of a special tribunal for the punishment of the crime of aggressions against the country.

The Bayberry Lane naming idea came from Deputy Mayor/District 5 Councilmember Sara Kaye and former District Council Member Barry Fertel.

"Sadly, the evils that Nuremberg sought to correct are still with us today, anti-Semitic incidents and other hate crimes are on the rise in our nation and just this past week in New York State,” said Kaye, “but Ben Ferencz is an illustrious example of the continued importance of speaking out. He has never stopped pushing his message of ‘law, not war’. And he’s still at it, at the age of 102."

“As the last surviving Nuremberg prosecutor, Ben Ferencz bears invaluable witness to one of history’s greatest acts of justice and redemption,” said Mayor Noam Bramson. “And yet Ben’s service to peace, human rights and international law, did not end in Nuremberg, but merely began. Throughout his long and fruitful career across the span of decades and continuing today, Ben has been a champion for the institutions and principles that make a just world. We in New Rochelle have been privileged to live side by side with such a towering figure and to draw inspiration from his example.”

Benjamin Ferencz's work has been incorporated into the New Rochelle High School curriculum for "Political Issues through Film and Facing History," with teacher Kristin Saglibene and "Facing History" with teacher Richard Dower. Students Carys Nardozzi, Skylar Morais-Cruz, Jeycof Carrion, Navid Torres and Diego Mungia attended the event with Department Chair Gustavo Barbosa and read essays detailing the impact Ferencz’s work had on each of them.

“We continue to be awed by the fact that this man from New Rochelle was in the room at the Nuremberg Trials and prosecuted dozens of Nazi commanders,” Dower explained. “Working together, Ms. Saglibene and I were able to reinforce the power of living history. This was a great way for our students to understand the strong connection between New Rochelle and a major international event. Interacting with Mr. Ferencz was an unmissable opportunity for our students.”

More information about Benjamin Ferencz can be found here.