BQE: Why Can’t We?

Come out to Governors Island on Thursday, November 10, 6:30-8:30PM for the second of three public panels held at the Block House, part of the Institute for Public Architecture (IPA)’s 2022 Fall Fellowship program. This series brings together designers, community leaders and urban planners to facilitate discussions about the potential transformation of the BQE corridor.

“BQE: Why Can’t We?” will be a discussion of case studies of highways that have been removed, decked-over, or transformed into community friendly boulevards.

Susannah Drake, FAIA, FASLA, an architect and landscape architect, will present her work on BQGreen, a proposed park on a decked-over portion of the BQE in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Phillip Baldwin, a designer and educator, will present an overview of the Cheonggyecheon River daylighting and highway removal project in Seoul, South Korea.

Erik Frisch, an urban planner, and City of Rochester official, will present the successful and ongoing removal of the I-490 Inner Loop East/North in Rochester, New York.

The discussion will be moderated by Katie Swenson, Senior Principal, MASS Design Group and Marc Norman, Larry & Klara Silverstein Chair and Associate Dean, NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate.

Can’t make it in person? Register to join our live webinar starting at 6:30PM.

Note: This event is taking place outside of regular Governors Island opening hours. Registration is therefore required to access the event in-person. After registration, attendees will receive detailed instructions about arriving to the island. Please plan on taking the ferry departing at 5:45 PM or 6:15 PM from the Battery Maritime Terminal in Downtown Manhattan.