Countdown
My Brooklyn Screening
On Friday, May 3rd, UPSA hosted a screening of the film My Brooklyn, which has garnered rave reviews and thoughtful commentary. The film reminds us of the importance to think of our roles as planners within the context of community needs and existing assets. Here’s some more about the film, we highly recommend that everyone check it out:
My Brooklyn is a documentary about Director Kelly Anderson’s personal journey, as a Brooklyn “gentrifier,” to understand the forces reshaping her neighborhood along lines of race and class. The story begins when Anderson moves to Brooklyn in 1988, lured by cheap rents and bohemian culture. By Michael Bloomberg’s election as mayor in 2001, a massive speculative real estate boom is rapidly altering the neighborhoods she has come to call home. She watches as an explosion of luxury housing and chain store development spurs bitter conflict over who has a right to live in the city and to determine its future. While some people view these development patterns as ultimately revitalizing the city, to others, they are erasing the eclectic urban fabric, economic and racial diversity, creative alternative culture, and unique local economies that drew them to Brooklyn in the first place. It seems that no less than the city’s soul is at stake.
Information Session for the Schack Seminar in Community Development
There will be an informational meeting for all students interested learning more about and possibly applying to participate in the Fall 2013 Seminar in Community Development.
This will be a three-credit elective open to Masters students at the Wagner School of Public Policy and the Schack Institute of Real Estate. The class will be held Wednesdays, 4:00-6:10 PM at the NYU Midtown Center. One or two additional informational sessions will be held at the Schack Institute in June and perhaps July. Enrollment in the course may be limited to 10 students so interested students are urged to attend one of these informational sessions.
This course offers the most exposure to top-level real estate industry professionals of any elective course offered by the Wagner School and the Schack Institute as well as perhaps the most intensive, hands-on project development experience. It will be taught by two prestigious faculty members: D. Kenneth Patton (dk.patton@nyu.edu) and H. Claude Shostal (hcs1@nyu.edu), both of whom have played significant roles in both the pubic and private sectors in the region. Mr. Patton is the former Dean of the Schack Institute, served as Deputy Mayor for Economic Development in the Lindsay administration and later as President of the Real Estate Board of New York and held senior positions in real estate development and management organizations. Mr. Shostal served in top-level posts in the administrations of Governor Nelson Rockefeller and Mayor Abraham Beame, was a development officer for several major real estate firms and was the prior President of Regional Plan Association.
Wagner Leadership Academy: Passing the Torch
The new 2013-2014 UPSA Board gathered at the Wagner Leadership Academy to discuss best practices with outgoing boards and sharing new ideas with other Wagner student groups. We’re thinking of lots new ideas for next year, as well as bringing back many of our favorite events from past years.
