New York City high school to be named after Nelson Mandela

NEW YORK - A New York City high school will be named in honour of late South African President Nelson Mandela, who had received a hero's welcome when he visited the campus on a tour calling for an end to apartheid, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Friday.

Mandela, who became the first president of post-apartheid South Africa, died on Thursday at the age of 95 at his home in Johannesburg after a prolonged lung infection.

The high school in the borough of Brooklyn, slated to open in September, will be named the Nelson Mandela School for Social Justice, according to Bloomberg and the city's Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott.

The school will be carved out of an existing building at the Boys and Girls High School campus, which Mandela visited in 1990.

The Boys and Girls High School has been under threat of closure after failing three city reviews.

Throngs of admirers lined up to greet Mandela during his visit, just months after he was released from 27 years in prison for his involvement in the anti-apartheid movement.

Apartheid was repealed in 1991, and Mandela was elected president three years later.