Nicknamed \u201cBattling Bella\u201d \u2014\u00a0\u201dI\u2019ve been described as a tough and noisy woman, a prizefighter, a man-hater, you name it,\u201d Abzug once said about herself \u2014 was known for her outsized hats and a personality to match. \u201cShe didn\u2019t knock politely on the door. She didn\u2019t even push it open or batter it down. She took it off the hinges forever,\u201d former Rep. Geraldine Ferraro spoke of Abzug at her 1998 funeral, when she died at age 77.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Abzug is memorialized today by a co-named street at the northwest corner of Bank Street and Greenwich Avenue, Bella Abzug Way, near where she lived and worked for nearly 40 years.<\/p>\n
At the 2018 street dedication, former City Council Speaker Corey Johnson spoke of Abzug\u2019s grit and determination, noting that she was \u201cahead of her time on so many issues\u201d which were still relevant at the time of the dedication.<\/p>\n
Abzug has a second sector of the city named in her honor as well \u2014 a park located in Hudson Yards, extending from 33rd Street to 37th Street in between 10th and 11th Avenue. The irony is palpable, considering Abzug was known for speaking her truth, while Hudson Yards has become synonymous with commercialism and a perceived inauthenticity. Notably, a number of Jewish activists gathered in the park<\/a> earlier this year to protest the Anti-Defamation League and what they perceived as its support for the Trump administration.<\/p>\n Abzug was born Bella Savitzky in 1920 to Russian-Jewish immigrants in the Bronx. Upon graduating Hunter College with an undergraduate degree in political science, she applied to Harvard Law School and was denied admission on account of her being a woman. Ultimately, Abzug ultimately received her law degree from Columbia University.<\/p>\n In 1942, Abzug met her future husband, Martin Abzug, a stockbroker and writer, on a bus in Miami Beach after a Yehudi Menuhin concert.<\/p>\n Abzug worked as a civil rights lawyer for 23 years, protesting the nuclear arms race and the American military presence in Vietnam, before running for Congress with the catchy slogan, \u201cThis woman\u2019s place is in the House\u2014the House of Representatives.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n During her three terms in office, she served as a member of the Government Operations Committee, ensuring that national security policies were more transparent \u2014 Abzug\u2019s \u201csunshine laws,\u201d which she sponsored while chairing the Subcommittee on Government Information and Individual Rights, are the reason government hearings are held publicly today. Abzug also called to amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit discrimination of gay Americans, widely considered to be one of the first American legislators to advocate for gay rights on the national stage.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bella Abzug with Broadway legend Barbara Streisand (Getty Images)<\/p>\n In 1976, Abzug became the first woman to run for the U.S. Senate from New York; she lost\u00a0 by less than 1 percent to Daniel Patrick Moynihan in the Democratic primary. The following year, she became the first woman to run for New York City Mayor; ultimately, she lost to fellow Jewish politician Ed Koch.<\/p>\n Abzug\u2019s aspirations for higher office paved the way for generations of women in politics who came after her, including Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of Queens, who once called Abzug the \u201cQueen of the West Side.\u201d She also served as Chairwoman of President Carter\u2019s National Women\u2019s Advisory Council and presided over the first National Conference on Women in Houston in 1977.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere she came, block by block, offering hope,\u201d Stringer said of the late congresswoman\u2019s dedication to her community, and her city.<\/p>\n Stringer, who himself ran for mayor in New York in 2021 and 2025, sees strong similarities between Abzug and today\u2019s young political activists. Throughout her life, she stood her ground and fought tooth and nail for what she believed was right. He even compared his cousin to Ocasio-Cortez \u2014 both became household names during their first terms in Congress, polarizing the nation with their progressive policies while beloved in their home districts.<\/p>\n![\"Bella](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-515351344-2.jpg\")
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