The Story of the BQE
Documentary Screening and Panel Discussion
November 5, 2025
5:00pm–8:00pm @ Rosenthal Pavilion at NYU Kimmel Center
60 Washington Square South, NY NY 10012
︎︎︎ Register Here
Archival image from The Story of the BQE documentary.
Join us on Wednesday, November 5th from 5:00-8:00pm for a free public screening of The Story of the BQE at NYU Kimmel Center, 60 Washington Square South, NY NY 10012.
Welcome remarks will be given by Polly Trottenberg, Dean of NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School, former US Deputy Secretary of Transportation, and former NYC Transportation Commissioner. The film will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by Tiffany-Ann Taylor, VP for Transportation at Regional Plan Association.
Panelists:
Ben Furnas, Executive Director, Transportation Alternatives
Adam Paul Susaneck, Architect, Filmmaker, Founder of Segregation by Design
Lanessa Owens-Chaplin, Racial Justice Center Director, ACLU of New York
Shahana Hanif, Council Member, 39th Council District, Brooklyn
Maria Fernanda Pulido-Velosa, Coalition Organizer, El Puente
Welcome remarks will be given by Polly Trottenberg, Dean of NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School, former US Deputy Secretary of Transportation, and former NYC Transportation Commissioner. The film will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by Tiffany-Ann Taylor, VP for Transportation at Regional Plan Association.
Panelists:
Ben Furnas, Executive Director, Transportation Alternatives
Adam Paul Susaneck, Architect, Filmmaker, Founder of Segregation by Design
Lanessa Owens-Chaplin, Racial Justice Center Director, ACLU of New York
Shahana Hanif, Council Member, 39th Council District, Brooklyn
Maria Fernanda Pulido-Velosa, Coalition Organizer, El Puente
About The Story of the BQE
“It’s now been 70 years since the highway was completed and its age is showing. Now is the perfect time to reimagine the BQE and repair the damage it continues to inflict on the community.”
-Segregation by Design (SBD)
The Story of the BQE documentary, produced by the Institute for Public Architecture (IPA) with NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate, uses archival footage and photography to show how the construction of the 35-mile-long Brooklyn-Queens Expressway demolished historic neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens, divided communities, and displaced tens of thousands of New Yorkers across the two boroughs. The Story of the BQE Film and Oral History project includes a web-based oral history archive comprising interviews with Brooklyn and Queens residents around the impact the highway has on their lives. This project expands IPA’s work since 2020 to highlight the institutional segregation and environmental impacts created by the highway and help raise awareness of the historical exclusion of underserved communities in decision-making about their physical space.
The project is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate; Sasaki Associates; KVL Audio Visual Services; Municipal Art Society Enduring Culture Initiative; Big Oh Bijoux; Sasaki; Municipal Art Society Enduring Culture Initiative; Simon’s Hardware; and private donations.
Panelists
