House members want Confederate Fort Hamilton streets renamed
Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson don’t deserve tributes, pols say
The legacy of the Civil War is at the center of a renewed fight to get the federal government to change the names of two streets at the U.S. Army Garrison Fort Hamilton named in honor of a pair of Confederate generals.
Four Democratic House members representing Brooklyn districts — Yvette Clarke, Hakeem Jeffries, Jerrold Nadler and Nydia Velazquez — have written a joint letter to Secretary of the Army Robert M. Speer demanding that he rename General Lee Avenue and Stonewall Jackson Drive at the Bay Ridge military post.
Both Lee and Jackson served at Fort Hamilton in the 1840s, long before the Civil War. Lee was the base’s engineer from 1841 to 1846. Jackson arrived at Fort Hamilton in 1848.