If you thought the golden key to Brooklyn was simply ceremonial, you’ll be surprised to know Tracy Morgan’s fits the locks to the city’s beloved bodegas.
“What did I do with my key? I opened up the bodegas!” Morgan joked Thursday of the mystical power of his award at a community event in his home neighborhood, Bed-Stuy.
While promoting the second season of his TBS comedy series “The Last O.G.,” Morgan got emotional about the (not-so-magical) honor he received nearly five months prior.
Shifting to a rare, more serious tone, the actor said he set the key and its plaque up on a stand on his desk at home in Alpine, New Jersey. “I look up, it’s right there,” he said.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams presented Morgan with the key one day before his 50th birthday in November. A crowd of nearly 100, including his wife, Megan Wollover, and daughter, Maven Sonae Morgan, gathered inside Brooklyn Borough Hall to watch him accept the fairly large, albeit decorative, key to his borough.
“That’s a very prestigious honor to me,” he said Thursday before rattling off a list of half a dozen famous names he’s proud to say hailed from Brooklyn, from NBA star Michael Jordan to heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.
“Everywhere you go in the world, you go to the South Pole, you say the word Brooklyn everybody knows that. You go to China and say Brooklyn, everybody be scared,” he added.
Other holders of the key to the borough include Fabolous, awarded the plaque in 2017, Big Daddy Kane and Wyclef Jean.
Morgan was chosen for his charitable efforts involving various Brooklyn communities, including the refurbishments of playgrounds in Bed-Stuy and Gowanus.
His most recent community effort involved revamping the Bed-Stuy Hattie Carthan Community Garden and donating bagged apples to families in the area. The clean-eating project was inspired by the second season of “The Last O.G.,” which returns to the network Tuesday.
