“Why Can’t NYC Do Big Projects Anymore?”
The Myths and Challenges of Large-Scale Development in Today’s NYC, And Planning for Tomorrow
Monday, September 11th, 6:30 – 8 pm
Elebash Recital Hall (Ground Floor)

While many complain NYC’s days of major public works are long gone, the government has in fact undertaken a number of huge development projects in recent decades, several described as the largest in our history — new rail lines and bridges, a sixty-mile-long water tunnel, redevelopment of industrial parks, transit yards, waterfront, Times Square, the World Trade Center, and more. So how does the current age stack up historically? How does it compare? And what lessons might we draw, now that it is time to plan for the next generation?Lynne B. Sagalyn, professor emeritus of real estate at Columbia’s Graduate School of Business, discusses her recent book, Power at Ground Zero: Politics, Money, and the Remaking of Lower Manhattan, and the challenges of large-scale development in present-day New York. Jay Kriegel, chief of staff to Mayor John V. Lindsay from 1966 to 1973, and senior adviser to Related Companies, reflects on his experiences “building big.” Tom Wright, president of the Regional Plan Association, shares his view on what must be done to update NYC’s infrastructure like subway and rail, based on insights gleaned from the RPA’s Fourth Regional Plan, set to be released this fall.

Co-sponsored by The Museum of the City of New York and the Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate, Columbia Business School    

Eleanor Roosevelt: New Yorker
Thursday, September 21st, 6:30-8pm
Skylight Room (9th Floor)

Bill Goldstein of Roosevelt House joins Blanche Wiesen Cook to discuss the final volume of the biographer’s trilogy on Eleanor Roosevelt, focusing on the legacy of her political activism in New York City.

Co-sponsored by The Museum of the City of New York

A Tale of Two New Yorks
The Bloomberg and De Blasio Years
Friday, Sept. 29, 6:30-8pm
Elebash Recital Hall (Ground Floor)

Jarrett Murphy, executive editor and publisher of City Limits, interviews Chris McNickleand Joseph P. Viteritti about their new histories of the Bloomberg and De Blasio mayoralties.

Co-sponsored by The Museum of the City of New York

Copies of Bloomberg: A Billionaire’s Ambition and The Pragmatist: Bill de Blasio’s Quest to Save the Soul of New York will be available for purchase​

Greater Gotham
Mike Wallace, on his Long-Awaited Sequel
Friday, October 6th, 6:30-8pm
Proshansky Auditorium – RSVP HERE 

Sam Roberts, urban affairs correspondent for the New York Times, and Gotham Center founder Mike Wallace, co-author of the Pulitzer-winning Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898, discuss his long-awaited sequel, Greater Gotham, which carries the story forward through 1919.

Copies of Greater Gotham: A History of New York City from 1898 to 1919 will be available for purchase​

New Deal, Trump Deal
How Federal Spending on Public Works Transformed NYC During the Great Depression, And How it Might Again
Thursday, October 26th, 6:30-8pm
Martin E. Segal Theater (Ground Floor)

Even as the Great Depression devastated New York, the city saw a renaissance in public works, as the federal government stepped up to finance a breathtaking list of projects: bridges, tunnels, airports, sewers, roads, hospitals, parks, schools, artwork, government buildings, and more. The legacy of this era stands, quite literally, all around us.

Gray Brechin, founder of the Living New Deal, showcases a new map locating these often-invisible sites around NYC, and discusses their enduring impact on public health in the metropolis. Conversation will follow (speaker TBA), contrasting the New Deal approach to infrastructure and job-creation legislation today.

Co-sponsored by The Museum of the City of New York

How NYC Women Got the Suffrage And What They Did With It
Friday, November 10th, 6:30-8pm
Skylight Room (9th Floor)

One hundred years ago — nearly to the day — New York granted women the right to vote. Two years later, after decades of struggle, it became national law. Why did earlier campaigns fail? What role did NYC play in realizing this old dream? And what happened after?

Lauren Santangelo, author of a forthcoming book on the movement in Gotham, discusses how activists built a successful coalition between 1870 and 1917. Susan Goodier, author with Karen Pastorella of the new book, Women Will Vote, highlights the involvement of neglected groups, such as black women, in gaining the vote, and the importance of New York to securing national legislation. Elisabeth Israels Perry takes us beyond the struggle to its impact, sharing insights from her forthcoming work Women, Politics, and Power in La Guardia’s New York. The conversation concludes with a preview of Dawn Scibilia’s documentary in progress, on the decades between feminism’s first and second “wave,” in which New York again played a special role.