In 1937, the Works Project Administration (WPA) commissioned New York-based artist Alois Fabry, Jr. to paint a massive mural in the building's impressive two-story lobby, known as the rotunda. Fabry, only 25 years old at the time, spent two years creating his masterpiece, including three months researching and consulting with local historians on the history of Brooklyn.

The work, titled Brooklyn—Past and Present, depicted the history and development of Brooklyn from 1609 to the present. Notable figures and scenes included Henry Hudson's encounters with the Lenape; George Washington leading his troops during the Battle of Long Island; Plymouth Church preacher Henry Ward Beecher waving goodbye to a group of departing Union soldiers; the expansion of the subway system; and the modernization of the Brooklyn waterfront.

The public's reaction to the murals was lukewarm at best. Some complained the color was too vivid. One resident bitterly described the murals as "amateurish, garish monstrosities." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle labeled them as "the murals nobody loved." In 1946, less than a decade after completion, Brooklyn Borough President John Cashmore ordered their removal.

The New York Times compared their untimely expulsion to the demolition of Diego Rivera’s Rockefeller Center mural in 1934. Both artists were accused of including a figure resembling Lenin. Today the interior walls of Borough Hall remain unadorned and the location of the removed murals is unknown.