By Harold Egeln
Brooklyn Eagle

On the street where she lived there was rejoicing. Community Board 10 gave its thumbs up to rename the southwest corner of 75th Street (Bay Ridge Parkway) and Fifth Avenue in honor of the late Rosemarie O’Keefe, an influential civic, political and city leader who died on July 17 after a long battle with cancer.

Attorney and board member Judith Grimaldi, a longtime friend of O’Keefe, made the request to honor the former board member. The board at its recent meeting at the Knights of Columbus Hall on 86th Street in Dyker Heights approved the proposal unanimously. Its recommendation now goes to the City Council for a final vote of approval.

“She dedicated her life to protecting and improving our community,� said Chair Brian Kieran of the traffic and transportation committee in his report to the board, highlighting the fact that she coordinated tragic events when she was a city commissioner. These included being the director of the 9/11 Family Relief Center and her work with New Yorkers affected by the TWA Flight 800 and Swissair Flight 111 crashes.

O’Keefe helped found the Alliance of Bay Ridge Block Associations three decades ago and was a leader of the group. She was the first Mayor’s Assistant Unit commissioner appointed by former Mayor Rudy Giuliani after serving as an assistant commissioner of the Parks and Recreation Department, and a Republican Party district leader who ran and lost, by a narrow margin, a special election for city council in February 2003.

O’Keefe was a community liaison for state Senator Chris Mega and Congresswoman Susan Molinari. She was also the initiator in the 1990s of the Child Safe Haven program, in which local merchants posted “safe haven� signs in their business windows for children in possible danger. She had been a Board 10 member and the Ragamuffin Parade’s “Woman of the Year� in 1985.

For over 20 years O’Keefe and her husband Bill, a retired Fire Department lieutenant, lived on 75th Street between Fourth and Fifth Avenue before moving to a house that she was instrumental in saving and renovating on a nearby block a few years ago. The renaming request enjoyed the support and praise of Councilman Vincent Gentile, State Senator Marty Golden and Assemblywoman Janele Hyer-Spencer.

“Rosemarie O’Keefe was Bay Ridge’s greatest fan,� said Theresa Micheo, a friend speaking to the board. “Because of her there is less graffiti, reduced hours on alternate parking, organized house tours, and much more.�

“She was a great teacher,� said Board 10 Vice Chair Mary Ann Walsh, who spoke warmly of O’Keefe at the earlier committee meeting, where a letter of support from Golden was read.

“Throughout her service to others she remained a dedicated wife to her husband Bill, a considerate neighbor and devoted friend to countless people in Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and beyond,� said Kieran. Bill O’Keefe sat in the back of the room with neighborhood friends during discussion of the motion and from that seat thanked the board with a big wave and smile.

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