April 25th, 2008 | New York City College of Technology
18 City Tech Faculty Members to Tour Greenpoint-Williamsburg
on May 2 to Study Transformation of Waterfront
Who:
18 NYC College of Technology faculty members from various academic disciplines.
What:
Walking tour of Greenpoint and Williamsburg, led by Daniel Campo, assistant professor in the Institute of Architecture and Planning at Morgan State University in Baltimore and expert on the history of the Brooklyn waterfront.
When:
Friday, May 2, 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The group will meet at the corner of Manhattan Avenue and Commercial Street. The closest subway station is Greenpoint Avenue on the G line. Exit the station and walk north up Manhattan Avenue to the very top of the Greenpoint peninsula (towards the large residential towers of Long Island City), a short ten-blocks away, or take the B61 bus up Manhattan Avenue.
Where:
Tour will focus on the transformation of the waterfront from production and commerce to consumption, including some of the recent conflicts the changes have created. There will be a stop at the Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center, one of the few remaining connections to Brooklyn’s manufacturing heritage. Another highlight will be a look at the history of sugar refining in Brooklyn, which was the borough’s number one industry for a century or more. Sixteen refineries along the waterfront produced more than half the sugar consumed in the U.S. every year from the Civil War to World War I.
Why:
The tour is part of an innovative National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)-funded faculty development project that brings together the College and Brooklyn Historical Society and the Brooklyn Center for Urban Environment. Through readings, tours and lectures, the 18 professors are learning about the history and ecology of Downtown Brooklyn, where the College is located, and nearby neighborhoods. Their goal is to develop a model for interdisciplinary studies to enrich students’ academic experience.
According to Dr. Richard E. Hanley, the City Tech English professor who is directing the “Water and Work” initiative, the immersion of the faculty participants in issues of sustainability and renewal of urban life, as they affect the culture and traditions of the Brooklyn waterfront, will bring a new perspective to their teaching.
“For much of the College’s history, its academic programs in English, the social sciences and philosophy were considered ’service’ disciplines to the technological and vocational departments,” says Hanley, who is the founding editor of the international Journal of Urban Technology, which frequently publishes articles on urban sustainability. “The humanities are now coming into their own at City Tech as providers of critical intellectual skills needed by all students.”
Note:
This tour is NOT open to the general public. We are inviting a few members of the media to join us. Hope you can make it! Please RSVP to Michele Forsten, 718.260.5979, mforsten@citytech.cuny.edu. If you have trouble finding the group on May 2, call tour leader Dan Campo at 215.421.3395 or 347.678.3278.