Brooklyn’s Roosevelt Federal Courthouse stands like a Cathedral to justice
The Theodore Roosevelt Federal Courthouse on the corner of Cadman Plaza and Tillary Street in Brooklyn looks like a fortress to the average passerby, and it is. But what happens in the building is, collectively, the work of dedicated people who handle the ceremonial, the combative and protective functions that can affect the lives of so many Brooklynites. And they do it every day.
“I think it’s in some ways the nucleus of Brooklyn,” said the court’s district executive, Eugene J. Corcoran. “The whole federal presence with the bankruptcy court across the street too. The federal community is a huge part of the rebuilding or revitalization of Downtown Brooklyn.”
The original building was built in 1963 and was named the Emanuel Celler Federal Building. Renovations started on the building in 1999, and when they was done in 2006, there was a new 15-story wing in place of the old six-story courthouse. The new, massive, 750,000-square-foot structure was eventually renamed after Roosevelt in 2008.