The Story of the BQE and Blue Highways
Documentary Screening and Panel Discussion
October 6, 2026
@ Brooklyn Borough Hall
209 Joralemon St, Brooklyn, NY 11201
6:00-8:00pm
Doors open at 5:30pm
Event Starts at 6:15pm
︎︎︎ Register Here
Join us on Tuesday October 6th for a screening of The Story of the BQE documentary at Brooklyn Borough Hall. The program starts at 6:15pm and will be followed by a panel discussion and audience Q&A about alternatives to freight on the BQE, including the proposed "Blue Highways”.
Panelists:
Renae Reynolds, Executive Director of Tri-State Transportation Campaign
Sandra Rothbard, Founder and Principal of Freight Matters
Dr. Rachel Weinberger, Peter W. Herman Chair for Transportation at Regional Plan
Moderator:
Adam Paul Susaneck, Filmmaker of The Story of the BQE and Founder of Segregation by Design
This event is free and open to the public.
Panelists:
Renae Reynolds, Executive Director of Tri-State Transportation Campaign
Sandra Rothbard, Founder and Principal of Freight Matters
Dr. Rachel Weinberger, Peter W. Herman Chair for Transportation at Regional Plan
Moderator:
Adam Paul Susaneck, Filmmaker of The Story of the BQE and Founder of Segregation by Design
This event is free and open to the public.
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 16-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; and private donations.
