The Story of the BQE Screening & Q&A

"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

The Story of the BQE is a documentary tracing the history of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE) by architect Adam Paul Susaneck, Founder of Segregation by Design, produced by the Institute for Public Architecture (IPA) with NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate. Using archival footage and photography, this 40-minute documentary shows how the construction of the 35-mile-long BQE demolished historic neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens, divided communities, and displaced hundreds 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 with interviews by Brooklyn and Queens residents about 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; Big Oh Bijoux; Sasaki; KVL Audio Visual Services; Municipal Art Society Enduring Culture Initiative; Simon’s Hardware; and private donations.

There will be a post-screening Q&A with filmmaker Adam Paul Susaneck. This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required.

Host or Publisher Resilient Red Hook