Green Gentrification and the Future of the BQE
March 11, 2025 6:30pm–8:00pm
@ Center for Brooklyn History
︎︎︎ BQE2053
Photo Credit: Segregation by Design
Join us on March 11 at 6:30pm at the Center for Brooklyn History for The Story of the BQE documentary screening, followed by a panel discussion on the challenges of green gentrification and strategies to address them. Panelists include Dr. Frances Lucerna, Co-Founder of El Puente and Founding Principal of the El Puente Academy for Peace; Michelle de la Uz, Executive Director of Fifth Avenue Committee; Marc Norman, Associate Dean of the Schack Institute of Real Estate at New York University; and Nilka Martell, Founder/Director of Loving the Bronx. Leading the conversation is Tiffany-Ann Taylor, Vice-President of Transportation at the Regional Plan Association. The screening is co-sponsored by the Center for Brooklyn History, Brooklyn Heights Association, and the Institute for Public Architecture.
This event is free and open to the public – registration is required. Space is limited. Click here to register.
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 hundreds 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; and private donations.
︎︎︎ BQE2053
This event is free and open to the public – registration is required. Space is limited. Click here to register.
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 hundreds 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; and private donations.
︎︎︎ BQE2053
