Urban Studies
Designed as an interdisciplinary program, Urban Studies offers a broad introduction to the city and the urban environment.
Students combine course work and urban issues with hands-on experience in New York City. A dedicated faculty offer courses ranging from urban politics and community, architecture and the built environment, urban history, immigration and class relations, to literary representations of urban space.
Learn More About:
Spring 2021 Virtual Events
2/26 Friday, 10 a.m. – 2:45 p.m.
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fordham urban law journal spring symposium 2021
A Taxing War on Poverty: Opportunity Zones and the Promise of Investment and Economic Development
Following the 2008 Great Recession, general economic uncertainty and anxiety enveloped the United States but was more acutely felt in specific pockets of the nation. Severely distressed areas across the country suffered from severe unemployment, low levels of and declines in public investment, and the lack of infrastructural improvements and access to private capital. The seemingly localized adverse effects ultimately spilled over into the national economy. Responding to this economic despair, Congress believed it drafted a provision to remedy the uneven economic recovery in the United States: Opportunity Zones (OZs). These are low-income census tracts that lure private investment through private opportunity zone funds (OZFs), which reward investors with tax deferrals, reductions, and exclusions. Since its inception, states have designated nearly 9,000 OZs across the nation in hopes of bringing economic growth to “blighted” areas. Alongside professors, attorneys, scholars, economists, investors, and advocates, the Symposium will explore what OZs are, the reasons for persistent gaps in access to capital in distressed areas, private-sector investment motivations, and the misnomers and shortcomings of OZs, as well as the possibilities of equitable or sustainable economic development.
• see also, 3/16 columbia gsapp “Opportunity Zones: A Baseline Evaluation in West Baltimore”
3/4 Thursday, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
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fordham environmental law review symposium 2021
Urban Climate Change and the Law
panel 1: cities and climate change
Outlining roles played by the laws & policies of cities and other municipalities in addressing the unique calamities faced by urban populations.
- Extreme Weather Events
- Heat Island Effect
panel 2: cities, climate justice, and the law
Discussing the role of policymakers and practicing attorneys in ensuring that principles of environmental justice guide governmental action relating to the environment.
- Vulnerable Populations
- The Unequal Cost Of Environmental Protection
panel 3: adaptation and resilience
Exploring what the future could look like for cities and urban populations regarding climate change, examining the role of policymakers and lawyers in creating that future.
- Urban Land Use Law
- Urban Adaptation And Resilience To Climate Change
- How Can Emerging Technologies Reduce A City’s Environmental Impact?
3/5 Friday, 9 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
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loyola law review symposium 2021
Structural Racism and the Law: Exploring the Laws and Policies Creating and Sustaining Oppressive Systems
The past year has demonstrated to the public that the laws and policies of the United States are inherently racist and anti-Black. In the midst of a global pandemic, it was laid bare that the community suffering the greatest losses in terms of evictions, education, police brutality, and health outcomes was the Black community. Structural racism has created complex, yet often hidden, barriers that make it harder for Black people to succeed. These laws and policies might seem racially neutral on their face but often have insidious roots.
This symposium will:
- highlight the historical connection between laws and policies and current structural racism in the United States;
- identify the changes needed in various areas of law and policy— housing, city planning, criminal & juvenile justice, mass incarceration and education —to ensure that as a community, we work together to ensure that these laws are changed and equity is attained for all people.
3/16 Tuesday, 1:15 p.m.
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columbia gsapp lectures in planning series
Opportunity Zones: A Baseline Evaluation in West Baltimore
This talk presents the findings from 65 interviews with community and government officials, program managers, developers, and fund managers about the federal Opportunity Zones (OZ) program in West Baltimore. It concludes with a set of short-term policy recommendations as well as a discussion of the broader federal policy framework that is necessary to attract durable and equitable investment into highly distressed neighborhoods.
Michael Snidal is a doctoral candidate in urban planning at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. Snidal is also the Principal of Snidal Real Estate, a Baltimore-based construction and property management firm. He was formerly the director of neighborhood development for West Baltimore at the Baltimore Development Corporation. His work and opinions have been featured in academic and popular news sources such as the Baltimore Sun, the Washington Post, and the Financial Times.
3/16 Tuesday, 5 p.m.
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museum of the city of new york
When Existence is Resistance: The History of Trans Activism in NYC
The past, present, and future of LGBTQ activism in New York has always been trans. From the Stonewall Uprising to building community for LGBTQ youth to fighting for civil rights, trans activists have been at the forefront of the movement to reconsider gender binaries and have advocated for safety, freedom, and power for all gender identities. Join MCNY for this free online workshop exploring the history and legacy of trans activism.
3/20 – 21, Saturday & Sunday
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40th annual conference of the center for medieval studies, fordham university
Medieval French Without Borders
This conference addresses the multilingual contact zones and social, cultural and literary contexts of exchange in which French featured between the ninth and the sixteenth centuries. A second language of several empires, a tongue of invaders, and an idiom spread by merchants, sailors, artisans, and pilgrims, French was a medium of both border-construction and border-crossing. The program includes papers on the dynamic relations between French and other languages including Arabic, Castilian, Dutch, English, German, Greek, Hebrew, Irish, Italian, Latin, Norse, Occitan, and Welsh. Such relations often exceed traditional explanatory frameworks of cultural prestige and the nation.
Co-sponsored with the Centre for Medieval Literature, University of Southern Denmark and University of York; the Orthodox Christian Studies Center, Fordham University; the Center for Jewish Studies, Fordham University; and the Program in Comparative Literature, Fordham University.
3/23, Tuesday, 1:15 p.m.
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columbia gsapp lectures in planning series
Urban Renewal Through Preservation and Rehabilitation
By 1965, nearly 800 American cities—located in almost every state across the country—sought to spur revitalization through the federal policy of urban renewal. Typically, their efforts took the form of large-scale demolition aimed at clearing space for new, modern construction. The Housing Act of 1954, however, introduced federal funding for rehabilitation-based approaches as well. This talk considers the motivations behind this more conservationist approach; the practical constraints to its wider-spread adoption; and its prevalence, character, and material impacts on the ground. The landmark case of Philadelphia’s Society Hill neighborhood, in particular, helps demonstrate how a preservation-based approach to urban renewal still transformed both the physical and social character of a community.
Francesca Russello Ammon is Associate Professor of City & Regional Planning and Historic Preservation at the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design. A social and cultural historian of the built environment, she is the author of Bulldozer: Demolition and Clearance of the Postwar Landscape, winner of the 2017 Lewis Mumford Prize for the best book in American planning history. She is currently writing a history of postwar preservation and urban renewal based upon the Philadelphia neighborhood of Society Hill.
3/24 – 26, Wednesday – Friday
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international deep city latsis symposium
DEEP CITY: Climate Crisis, Democracy and the Digital
Big data, smart systems, machine learning – it is inevitable that these new technologies will change the way we study, build and manage our cities. At the same time resurgent interest in consensus and contributive action seems to oppose an exclusively data-driven urbanism. Is the opposition of machine intelligence and democracy inevitable, or are shared trajectories possible?
Politicians, social scientists, urbanists, and architects find their working methods and disciplinary knowledge challenged by insights derived from big data, machine learning and Artificial Intelligence (A.I.). As both citizens and experts in the many respective fields, our mission must be to bring in our disciplinary knowledge and civic engagement to support the appropriate development and discussion of data-driven tools, to consider both their biases and potentials, and to promote broader social literacy and criticality. Ultimately, it is a question of both decanting the technical quality of these new instruments of design, management and decision making, as well as enhancing democratic control over them. How do we do this? Do our disciplines currently lack adequate strategies to understand, let alone critique or exploit the knowledge-products of machine learning, artificial intelligence and big data?
EPFL is Europe’s most cosmopolitan technical university. It welcomes students, professors and collaborators of more than 120 nationalities. EPFL collaborates with an important network of partners, including other universities and colleges, secondary schools and gymnasiums, industry and the economy, political circles and the general public, with the aim of having a real impact on society.
The Fondation Latsis Internationale is a non-profit, public benefit Foundation established in 1975. Based in Geneva, it is established to support scientists and research teams in recognition of their outstanding and innovative contributions to various scientific fields.
4/16 Friday, 8 a.m. – 1 p.m.
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17th Annual Symposium On Energy In The 21st Century
electric & carbon free transportation • solar inclusion in grid • climate justice
The award winning Symposium has been cited as one of the most important conferences on energy policy in New York and the Northeast. Attendees include major business, environmental, labor leaders, academics, architects, engineers, builders, laborers, elected officials, municipal planners, governmental agency staff, institutional planners, architects, lawyers, farmers, college and graduate students as well as many interested citizens.
This is our 17th year! As is our ecosystem, we are resilient and will not allow adversity to limit our quest for solutions to the climate crisis in which we find ourselves. Although in the short term we need to deal with the devastating coronavirus, we still must not forget the longer term threat to our world: global warming. The cutting edge information presented at the Symposium each year provides us with up to date information and tools to help create a carbon free and healthy world.
5/5 – 6, Wednesday & Thursday
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american planning association
2021 National Planning Conference
Why NPC21?
These last few months have been draining on all of us. NPC21 is a chance to prepare for the challenges having the biggest impact on the planning practice now and in the years ahead. These are areas of disruption demanding actionable solutions to prepare planners as they implement broad systematic changes.
- Addressing a legacy of inequality
- COVID recovery and reinvention
- Emerging transportation and infrastructure
- Leveraging rapid technological changes
- Planning practice innovation
- Resilient planning in a changing climate
APA exists to elevate and unite a diverse planning profession as it helps communities, their leaders and residents anticipate and meet the needs of a changing world. Learn More.
past events
2/12 Friday, 10 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
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fordham international law journal symposium 2021
Black Lives Matter Around the Globe: A Symposium Focused on Racial and Ethnic Discrimination Abroad
In the wake of the 2020 Black Lives Matters protests in the United States, the 2021 Fordham International Law Journal Symposium topic will focus on the manifestation of the Black Lives Matter movement and the issue of racial and ethnic discrimination around the globe. Panelists will include judges, scholars, and activists within and outside of the Fordham community well versed in civil and human rights issues in an international context. Conversation will surround an identification of the particular issues in jurisdictions outside of the United States as well as ongoing proposed solutions.
2/17 Wednesday, 7 p.m.
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museum of the city of new york
Row Houses, Brownstones, and Townhouses: From Amsterdam to the South Bronx
Row houses, brownstones, townhouses—this residence of many names can be found in cities up and down the eastern seaboard, as well as internationally. These common sites, rarely given a second thought by city dwellers, have a deeper history behind them than meets the eye. Author, planner, and historian Charles Duff discusses his latest book The North Atlantic Cities with Monxo López, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Museum of the City of New York. The two will consider the role of row houses in developing the modern city—and compare New York to other metropolises like Boston, Washington, and Baltimore. López, an owner of a row house in the South Bronx will bring his own personal experience as a row house dweller to the conversation and consider how his experience has helped him define community, forge friendships (and make adversaries!), and beyond.
2/3 – 5, Wed 9 a.m. – Fri 3 p.m.
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world bank transport global practice / wri ross center for sustainable cities
Transforming Transportation 2021: Reimagining Safe And Resilient Mobility For Recovery
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the global transport sector and the people and businesses that rely on it in unprecedented ways. Across the globe, rethinking mobility is now a priority to build back better, with safer, more resilient and efficient transport systems for all. Transforming Transportation 2021 will bring together sustainable mobility world leaders from the public, private, academic and civil society spheres in a global virtual event to discuss the path forward.
2/2 Tuesday, 7 p.m.
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museum of the city of new york
Your Hometown Virtual Conversation with Darryl McDaniels of Run-DMC
In this "live" virtual version of the new podcast "Your Hometown," Darryl McDaniels of famed Queens-founded hip hop group Run-DMC talks with host Kevin Burke about growing up in New York City and its influence on his life and work.
1/28, Thursday, 7 – 8 p.m.
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cary institute of ecosystem studies
Restoring Resilient Tropical Forests
Join Cary Institute President Joshua Ginsberg for a virtual Cary Science Conversation with forest ecologist Sarah Batterman. Take a virtual trip to Panama and discover why healthy tropical forests are our climate allies, how tree species diversity regulates forest regrowth following disturbance, and science-based recipes for reforestation success. Sarah Batterman uses large-scale ecosystem experiments, field observations, and modeling to understand how tropical trees, their microbial partners, and nutrients impact tropical rainforest recovery from disturbance, response to environmental change, and ability to trap carbon. This understanding can inform policy makers and natural resource managers about potential carbon offsets in the tropics, and how to recover tropical forests to combat climate change.
1/28 Thursday, 12:30 p.m.
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fordham law speaker series 2021
Supercharging Environmental Justice in Crisis Times
Hayley Gorenberg is the Legal Director of NYLPI, where she guides the organization’s litigation and advocacy. Before joining NYLPI in 2018, Hayley was General Counsel and Deputy Legal Director of the national civil rights organization Lambda Legal, where she litigated landmark cases advancing the rights of LGBTQ people, including a range of pathbreaking matters involving disability rights, health access and discrimination against marginalized communities. Prior to that she ran a citywide task force at Legal Services for New York City, creating legal advocacy campaigns and training other lawyers and advocates to achieve high-impact results for low-income New Yorkers living with HIV. Hayley was named 2017 OUTLaw Alumna of the Year by New York University School of Law and received a 2018 Forger Award from the American Bar Association for “sustained excellence” advocating for the rights of people living with HIV. She has served as a Wasserstein Public Interest Fellow at Harvard and sits on Princeton University’s Gender and Sexuality Studies Advisory Council and the New York State Council on Women and Girls. Hayley earned her undergraduate degree from Princeton University, her law degree from New York University School of Law, and a certificate in change leadership from Cornell University.
Learn more about the A2J Initiative at Fordham Law.
1/27 Wednesday, 7 p.m.
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museum of the city of new york
Our Fair City Virtual Conversation: In-Between
Streetscape adaptations during the pandemic have demonstrated both possibilities and pitfalls. Now it’s time to move from improvisation to planning. How can New York plot a wholesale reorganization of the way we use streets—more than a quarter of the city’s land—less as a grid of channels to sluice vehicles around and more as a collective outdoors where eating, commuting, playing, selling, working, and innumerable other activities all coexist. For the third session in our series, Our Fair City: Building a More Equitable New York, critic and editor Justin Davidson talks to urban designer Justin Garrett Moore, landscape architect Kate Orff, and transit expert Shin-pei Tsay about how we can reimagine our public space.
1/26, Tuesday, 1:15 p.m.
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columbia gsapp lectures in planning series
Cities on the Move: On Turbulent Urbanism of Irregular Migration
The increasing fortification of national borders is producing new turbulent urban landscapes of irregular migration, which could be described as ‘cities on the move’. This is not only because certain cities make stopover points along ambitious trajectories of ‘people on the move’, but also because they create urban environments which are themselves rapidly ‘moving’ due to the opposite powers that work within and through them to hinder or facilitate irregular migration. This lecture discusses the urban spatial movements created by the efforts of global, regional, state and urban powers to regulate migration and by the forces opposing them, which together turn cities into contested arenas of unstable landing pads and jumping-off points along the increasingly blocked global routes of ‘unauthorized’ migration.
Irit Katz is a University Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Architecture and Urban Studies at the Department of Architecture, University of Cambridge, and a Bye-Fellow of Christ’s College. She has practiced as an architect in Tel Aviv and in London and has an interdisciplinary academic background in architecture, hermeneutics, cultural studies, and global policy. Her work focuses on built environments created and shaped in extreme conditions, with a particular emphasis on spaces of displacement, migration and refuge in camps and in cities. Her books include the co-edited Camps Revisited: Multifaceted Spatialities of a Modern Political Technology (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018) and the forthcoming The Common Camp: Spaces of Power and Resistance in Israel-Palestine (University of Minnesota Press).
1/25, Monday, 7 p.m.
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wild bird fund
"Mannahatta and The Welikia Atlas" with ecologist Eric Sanderson
What was our region's ecology like before New York City became a sprawling metropolis? Eric W. Sanderson of the Wildlife Conservation Society dedicated 15 years of research to uncovering the remarkably diverse, natural landscape and abundant community of wildlife and that sustained people for thousands of years before Europeans arrived on the scene in 1609...
In this virtual presentation, Dr. Sanderson will share his latest work on the historical ecology of New York City, expanding from the study of Mannahatta to all five boroughs. His multi-disciplinary approach combines historical detective work, computational geography and visualization, and insights from landscape ecology to help us imagine the remarkably biodiverse and productive setting of New York prior to its founding. In closing, he will answer questions from the Wild Bird Fund community and offer ideas on how The Welikia Atlas can be used to shape a more livable, sustainable, and beautiful city in the future. (Welikia means “my good home” in Lenape, the original Native American language of the NYC region.)
1/20 Wednesday, 9 – 10 a.m.
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urban land institute ny
ULI Madrid: The Power of Perception: Perceived Workplace Health, Safety and Wellbeing During the Covid-19 Pandemic
ULI Madrid, SGS & JLL will address the importance of maintaining workplace wellbeing and ensuring employees feel comfortable re-entering the office during times of uncertainty. This webinar will cover:
- How the COVID-19 pandemic has quickly accelerated workplace wellbeing trends
- Strategies for ensuring employees feel as safe as possible when re-occupying the workplace
- Strategies for ensuring employees feel as safe as possible when re-occupying the workplace Long-term trends we anticipate for the future of the commercial real estate industry
1/19, Thursday, 7 – 8 p.m.
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aiany center for architecture
Moshe Safdie: Person Place Thing with Randy Cohen
Person Place Thing is an interview show hosted by Randy Cohen based on the idea that people are particularly engaging when they speak, not directly about themselves, but about something they care about. Cohen’s guests talk about one person, one place, and one thing that is important to them. The result: surprising stories from great speakers. This installment of Person Place Thing will be a conversation with Moshe Safdie, Principle of Safdie Architects.
Moshe Safdie is an architect, urban planner, educator, theorist, and author. Over a celebrated 50-year career, Safdie has explored the essential principles of socially responsible design with a distinct visual language. A citizen of Israel, Canada, and the United States, Safdie graduated from McGill University. After apprenticing with Louis I. Kahn in Philadelphia, he returned to Montréal to oversee the master plan for the 1967 World Exhibition. In 1964, he established his own firm to realize Habitat ’67, an adaptation of his undergraduate thesis and a turning point in modern architecture.
1/13 Wednesday, 7 p.m.
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museum of the city of new york
American Utopia: David Byrne and Maira Kalman in Conversation
Former Talking Heads frontman and multimedia artist David Byrne and best-selling author, illustrator and artist Maira Kalman discuss their new collaboration, a book inspired by Byrne's award-winning musical American Utopia (Bloomsbury, October 2020). The two will sit down for a virtual conversation with WNYC's Alison Stewart about creating the book and their decades-long careers as New York artists.
1/12 Tuesday, 5 p.m.
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museum of the city of new york
Civil Rights in New York: From School Boycotts to ‘Beyond Vietnam’
From fighting employment discrimination to organizing for equitable schools to marching against police brutality, New Yorkers were at the forefront of the civil rights movement in the 20th century. In this online educator workshop, dive into the stories of New York’s network of activists including Ella Baker, Bayard Rustin, Malcolm X, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and explore the history and legacy of Black activism in the city. In this program hosted by MCNY, you'll discover primary sources from the Activist New York and King in New York exhibitions, and enjoy a preview of the virtual field trip, The Civil Rights Movement in NYC.
1/12 Tuesday, 1:15 p.m.
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columbia gsapp lectures in planning series
Exploring the Impact of Displacement on Cities: a Framework for Analysis
Karen Jacobsen is the Henry J. Leir Professor in Global Migration at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and directs the Refugees in Towns Project at the Feinstein International Center. Professor Jacobsen’s current research explores urban displacement and global migration, with a focus on the livelihoods and financial resilience of migrants and refugees, and on climate- and environment-related mobility. She is currently at work on a book that examines the impact of displacement on cities. Her books include A View from Below: Conducting Research in Conflict Zones (Cambridge UP 2013 ) and The Economic Life of Refugees (Lynne Rienner, 2005).
Fall 2020 Virtual Events
past events
12/3 Thursday – 5:30 p.m.
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History in a Time of Epidemic: Some Lessons from Latin America
Dr. Paul Ramírez, Associate Professor of History and Religious Studies at Northwestern, will offer a historian’s reflections on the impact and significance of past epidemics in light of the current COVID crisis. How have communities in Latin America overcome outbreaks? Does the past have lessons for us now? In undertaking these inquiries, we will address medical science, the role of religious communities, and history, or the act of storytelling. His book Enlightened Immunity: Mexico's Experiments with Disease Prevention in the Age of Reason (Stanford University Press, 2018) examines the rituals, genres, and technologies that accompanied the adoption of a public health policy in late-colonial Mexico.
Sponsored by the O'Connell Initiative. The O’Connell Initiative in the Global History of Capitalism is supported by generous gifts from Fordham alumnus Robert J. O’Connell, FCRH '65.
11/20 Friday
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Imagining Cities in the Global Age
A graduate Global Studies seminar by Professor Rosemary Wakeman conducted from the University of Macerata in Italy.
11/18 Wednesday, 5 – 6:15 p.m.
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Pathways to Practice Series: Careers in Immigration and International Human Rights Law
The Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law School is an innovative Think-and-Do Tank that aims to make international human rights protections an everyday reality for marginalized communities around the world. Fordham Law alumni will discuss their experiences practicing in the immigration and international human rights fields. Co-sponsored with the Feerick Center for Social Justice.
11/13 Friday – 10 a.m.
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Pandemics through Time: The Renaissance Experience and Modern Pedagogy
Seminar and Workshop sponsored by Fordham History and the Renaissance Society of America.
10/26 Monday – 6 p.m.
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Comrade Sister: Caribbean Feminist Revisions of the Grenadian Revolution
Yuko Miki and Laurie Lambert's Freedom & Slavery Working Group will be presenting a book talk on Lambert's Comrade Sister: Caribbean Feminist Revisions of the Grenadian Revolution (University of Virginia Press, 2020). Dr. Lambert, Fordham Associate Professor of African & African American Studies, will be in conversation with Ronald Cummings, Assistant Professor English Language & Literature at Brock University.
10/14 Wednesday, 4 – 5:30 p.m.
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#FreeTheHair: How Black Hair is Transforming Civil Rights Laws and Movements
One of the world’s leading legal experts on “grooming codes discrimination,” and Founder of the #FreeTheHair campaign, Professor Wendy Greene will discuss her legal scholarship and public advocacy combating race-based discrimination African descendants suffer when they don natural hairstyles like twists, braids, afros, and locs. Professor Greene will also explore landmark U.S. legal reforms her scholarly activism is shaping, such as the C.R.O.W.N. Acts (Creating a Respectful and Open Workplace/World Acts), which redress this systematic form of racial discrimination and are transforming civil laws and discourse globally. This event is free and open to the public. CLE credits are available. CLE credit for the program has been approved in accordance with the requirements of the New York State CLE Board for a maximum of 1.5 non transitional credits: (1.5) Diversity Inclusion & Elimination of Bias. Presented by the Center on Race, Law and Justice and in conjunction with The Leitner Center, Fordham Black Law Students Association and Fordham Latin American Law Students Association.
10/14 Wednesday
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Designing Utopias
The NYU Urban Initiative presents Professor Rosemary Wakeman in a line up of eminent international scholars for this year’s multidisciplinary Urban Research Seminar. This event series is open to the greater NYU community in an effort to integrate NYU's faculty and students with a keen interest in cities.
10/7 Wednesday
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From Resettlement to Revolution: The Comuneros of Colonial Peru
Fordham Associate Professor of History Sarah Elizabeth Penry, author of The People Are King: The Making of an Indigenous Andean Politics (Oxford University Press, 2020), examines the community-based democracy that played a central role in the Age of Atlantic Revolutions and continues to galvanize indigenous movements in Bolivia today.
10/6 Tuesday
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Utopian New Towns Around the World: Past and Present
A talk by Professor Rosemary Wakeman from the School of Architecture and the Built Environment, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.
9/10 Thursday, 4 – 5:30 p.m.
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Unfinished Work: Black Lives Matter and Policing after the Protests
This event is presented in conjunction with the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice and the Fordham Black Law Students Association and co-sponsered by the Center on Race, Law and Justice.
9/10 Thursday
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Unmaking the Nation of Immigrants
A presentation with Carly Goodman, co-editor at Made by History at the Washington Post.
Urban Law Day Roundtable Discussion
Law and the New Urban Agenda in the Current Crisis
This event happened on October 6, 2020
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In honor of the annual World Habitat Day, please join UN-Habitat and the Fordham Urban Law Center for an Urban Law Day Roundtable Discussion on October 6, 2020. Featuring a panel of urban legal scholars from around the world, the Roundtable will engage with the recently published book, Law and the New Urban Agenda, and its significance for the contemporary urban moment in the face of the challenges from COVID-19 and related pressing issues.
introduction and moderation:
- Nestor M. Davidson, Fordham University School of Law
- Geeta Tewari, Widener University, Delaware Law School
scheduled panelists include:
- Elena De Nictolis, Luiss University, LabGov.City
- Chritian Iaione, Luiss University — Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation Law Lab
- Maria Mousmouti, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies
- Marius Pieterse, School of Law at the University of the Witwatersrand
Fordham Forward
Fordham University has developed a comprehensive plan, Fordham Forward, for successfully restarting operations on our New York campuses and welcoming students, faculty, and staff back to campus.
Lower Density and Social Distancing
Operate at a lower density and institute social distancing standards in all facilities
Enhanced Cleaning Measures
Undertake enhanced cleaning measures
Personal Protective Equipment
Require the use of appropriate personal protective equipment
Mandatory Universal Testing and Daily Health Screening
Employ mandatory universal testing and daily health screening to monitor, trace, and isolate potential infections
Education
Educate around behaviors that ensure the health and safety of students, employees, and our local community
New York ForwardThe restart of Fordham University conforms with the governor’s plan to restart New York. As outlined in New York Forward, the state will reopen on a regional basis as each region meets the criteria necessary to protect public health. New York City is in Phase Four as of July 20. |
Learn more about Fordham Forward
A New York Legislator's Take on the Protests
from wync | the brian lehrer show:
Fordham Urban Studies alumnus Zellnor Myrie, New York State Senator (D-20), talks about his experience getting pepper sprayed at a protest last weekend, and discusses laws he hopes to pass that would help change the justice system and reform policing.
Listen on wync.org The Brian Lehrer Show.
Prof. Greer talks Politics and Protest
from wync | the brian lehrer show:
Dr. Jason Johnson, professor at Morgan State University, political contributor at MSNBC, contributor to The Grio and Sirius XM, and Christina Greer, political science professor at Fordham University, host of the podcast FAQNYC, politics editor at The Grio and the host of The Aftermath on OZY , talk about the uprisings happening across the country, and the political ramifications.
Listen on wync.org The Brian Lehrer Show.
nyc guides 2020
The Edge of Astoria
by Kate Doyle
introduction
An extensive range of architecture, infrastructure, and industry characterizes the northern perimeter of Astoria, Queens. I selected this area as the focus of my New York City Guide in part because I find it fascinating in its mix of land uses and architectural styles, and in part because I expect it is likely to change dramatically in the next two decades — the latter based both on recent patterns of development in the wider neighborhood of Astoria, and on a proposed zoning change for Rikers Island. My guide is a mix between a walking tour of historical sites in the area, a review of current land use, an informal photographic survey, and a long-term projection for neighborhood change.
This zoning map shows how the land that is the focus of the tour is currently divided. The map has been adapted from its original version,2 with original shading greyed for emphasis. Yellow shading marks the edge of the residential zone and purple marks manufacturing; light purple marks light manufacturing (accessible), while darker purple (M3-1) marks heavy manufacturing (closed to the public). Pink (Rikers Island and North Brother Island in this map) are currently zoned as commercial.
land use: the current edge
The walking tour begins where East Elmhurst meets Astoria, taking the visitor along the main routes of 19th and 20th Avenues and onto the smaller 41st Street, Berrian Boulevard, and Steinway Place. The route traces what is essentially the edge of northern Astoria, moving east to west. Despite the neighborhood being bordered by the East River on both the north and the west, the tour does not hit the geographical edge, where the land meets the water, until its conclusion. Due to current land use regulations, much of this area is closed to the public; the majority is designated for heavy manufacturing. Guiding the visitor along the border between the manufacturing and residential zones, and into the section that is designated for light manufacturing and mixed-use, the walking tour follows what is, for the general public, the accessible edge of northern Astoria.
nyc guides 2020
Rikers Island Jail Complex
John Moore/Getty Images
Rikers Island
by Victoria L. McDonald
This New York City Guide is featuring The Rikers Island Jail Complex. The Rikers Island Jail Complex is an interconnected detention facility located on Rikers Island, an Island located in the East River between The Bronx and Queens and politically affiliated with The Bronx, New York. This New York City Guide will give you the history of the physical island, it will walk you through its transition from private ownership to its current jail complex as well as to discuss the political processes and legislation that affected its creation and projected closure.
The primary research methodology used for the content of this New York City Guide was Archival Research via the Internet. Citation for all major sources of this guide is listed on the Bibliography page using the Modern Language Association (MLA) format.
The Rikers Island Jail Complex is New York City’s largest jail complex in the state. There are ten separate jails and infirmaries on the island that serve as housing facilities for those in pretrial confinement, pending transfer to another facility or serving sentences less than a year. The complex is identified as a jail complex as it houses inmates serving terms of one year or less, while prisons house inmates serving sentences of more than a year.
The Jail complex is located on Rikers Island and hears the islands name. Rikers Island is a 413.17 acre island located in the East River between The Bronx and Queens Boroughs. Rikers Island is politically apart of the Bronx, however it’s only method of access is the Francis Buono Bridge, which originates in Queens, with the complex holds an East Elmhurst, Queens mailing address. The island is said to be named after a Dutch Settler, Abraham Rycken, who purchased the island in 1664 and was owned by his descendants until its purchase from the city of New York in 1884. The Island was originally less than 100 acres in size but was expanded with the use of prison labor. Prior to the New York City Department of Correction’s establishment of the Jail complexes on Rikers Island, the Island was used as a Union Military training area during the Civil War and is notable for establishing the first three regiments of all African American Army Service Member’s, the 20th, 26th and 31st Infantry Regiments. Following the Civil War, on August 4th 1884, the NYC Commissioner of Charities and Corrections purchased the island from the Rycken family for $180,000 and the Island was briefly used as a Quarantine Facility, a Boy’s Reformatory and a Potters Field, or burial place for paupers and strangers. Eventually Hart Island was converted to a Potters Field and Rikers Island was designated as a Charity Workhouse and Corrections Facility while also being used as a Refuse Landfill for the City.
To BID or Not to BID?
On October 30, 2019, the Urban Studies program and Political Science department co-sponsored a panel discussion on “New York City’s Business Improvement Districts: Contributions and Critiques.” Featured speakers were Prof. Abe Unger of Wagner College, author of Business Improvement Districts: Private Government and Public Consequences (Palgrave-MacMillan, 2016); Rob Walsh, Senior Advisor for Strategic Partnerships at Manhattan College and former Commissioner of Small Business Services under Mayor Michael Bloomberg; and Prof. Paul Kantor, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Fordham University.
We asked two of our Urban Studies undergraduate students, Mae Symmonds and Gregory Eppinger, to comment on the presentation. Both Mae and Gregory worked as interns during the fall 2019 semester with the Mosholu Preservation Corporation (MPC) in the Norwood area of the Bronx north of Fordham. Gregory did his placement with the Jerome Gun Hill BID, while Mae worked with Northwest Merchants Association (NMA) in its effort to form a BID.
mae symmonds
• The Debate on BIDs
The recent panel discussion about Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) included Abe Unger, who touched on what a BID is and its overall value and limits; Rob Walsh, who discussed why BIDs were created; and Paul Kantor, who talked about the urban economy in terms of switching to small state governance and the inclusion of BIDs within these arrangements. After hearing their views, I think that there is much discussion to be had about the proper role of a BID within society. There is much discrepancy over the overall value of BIDs because they are a public-private hybrid.
This means that, in terms of public power, once they are formed BIDs have the power to tax the businesses and properties within their jurisdiction. In terms of private power, BIDs are considered private corporations run by a board through a local non-profit. Through the public-private hybrid, BIDs are able to tax publicly and to spend privately, which poses an accountability problem for some people.
Since BIDs are partially a public entity, they allow more people with different backgrounds to come to the table to discuss effective business practices. The privatization of BIDs allow them to branch a bit away from the city governments that they are partially a part of, as people cannot rely on city governments to have the creativity and beautification efforts that those that live in the neighborhood could. The public-private hybrid of BIDs allows them to be more successful than if a BID was simply a public or private entity.
gregory eppinger
• What Do BIDs Do?
Students who make their daily trek down East Fordham Road towards the Fordham College at Rose Hill campus undoubtedly characterize the region by encounters with the multicultural populations, the smell of food carts, and the sound of a tattoo parlor overtly calling your attention over the clamor of traffic. However, the component separating this area from other neighborhoods in the Bronx is its unique abundance of small businesses. The organization tasked with maintaining the renowned commercial retail stretch is known as the Fordham Road Business Improvement District (BID).
BIDs are privately owned, non-profit corporations that allocate publicly funded grants to revive and bolster small businesses inhabiting depreciated properties. These organizations require substantial resources to maintain storefronts and improve foot traffic. Last year alone, Fordham Road BID’s expenses totaled an astounding output of nearly one million dollars. A large portion of the resources was dedicated to park upkeep, sanitation, and pop-up markets promoting community engagement.
The practicality of these programs and supplemental services is dependent on the size of the designated commercial areas. Smaller institutions, such as the Jerome Gun Hill BID located north of the Grand Concourse, lack sufficient funds necessary to administer equivalent assistance to storeowners. Although they are a recent innovation, Business Improvement Districts are deserving of increased financial support to further cement their integral roles expanding stability and productivity in the city’s small businesses.
Built Heritage special issue on Shanghai
A new special issue of Built Heritage, “Shanghai: Heritage at the Crossroads of Culture,” is edited by Fordham Professor of History Rosemary Wakeman. The journal is published by the College of Architecture and Urban Planning at Tongji University in Shanghai.
from wakeman's introduction:
Shanghai is among the most dynamic global cities of both the 20th and 21st centuries. The city is China’s gateway to the world and its aspirations for the future. With more than 24 million people, 40 percent of whom are migrants, it is a global crossroads and one of the most multicultural cities in the world. It has more skyscrapers than New York and a public transport system that overtakes most global cities. Shanghai is a trading city, an entrepot of commodities. It exports electronic information products, automobiles, petrochemicals, fine steel, equipment, and biomedicine. It has the highest GDP of any city in China’s mainland and has become one of the leading financial sectors in East Asia, with major Western banks flocking to its new financial centre. With well over 500 multinational companies, the city attracts more foreign investment flows than most developing countries. Along with them has come a highly-skilled workforce from all over the world. Shanghai’s urban middle-class has fuelled China’s consumer revolution and a property boom. Sleek skyscrapers and glamorous malls, its brilliant skyline, dominate the global image of Shanghai and beckon tourists to its shores.
• Rosemary Wakeman, “Shanghai and New York: Mid-Century Urban Avant-Gardes”
Read more at Built Heritage.
Mapping Conference Tackles Justice Issues from a Geographic Perspective
from fordham news:
In a three-day symposium titled “Mapping (In)Justice,” dozens of scholars came to Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus from Nov. 7 to Nov. 9 to examine how digital mapping is being used by academics as a methodology to study justice and injustice, particularly when researching underserved communities.
Gregory Donovan, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Communication and Media Studies and co-founder of the Fordham Digital Scholarship Consortium, organized the conference with department chair Jacqueline Reich, Ph.D.
“Spatial media have politics, these are not neutral things,” said Donovan, who teaches a course of the same name as the conference for the Masters in Public Media. “We need to look at how our subjects are using digital mapping in their own lives and not just use this technology to study them from afar, like a scientist with a clipboard.”
Read the full article by Tom Stoelker at Fordham News.
View Digital Maps Project Gallery
from m(i)j project gallery:
- A Fine and Fertile Country: How America Mapped its Meals, Lena Denis & Danielle Brown, Harvard Map Collection.
- Counter-Mapping Evictions in NYC, Manon Vergerio, Ariana Allensworth & Ciera Dudley, Anti-Eviction Mapping Project.
- Durham Health Indicators Project, Tim Stallmann, Research Action Design, & John Killee, DataWorks NC.
- Participatory Mapping to Reduce Urban Risk in Lima, Rita Lambert, The Bartlett Development Planning Unit, University College London.
- Recalibrating Queens: Re(sident)-centering the development debate in LIC, Kristen Hackett, The Graduate Center, CUNY.
- Screening Surveillance: Mapping, Monitoring, and Future-Ing Big Data Surveillance, sava saheli singh, University of Ottawa.
- Siege of Antioch Project, W. Tanner Smoot & Douglass Hamilton, Fordham University, Center for Medieval Studies.
- ToxiCity: Mapping Pollution in North Brooklyn, Jesse Braden, Spatial Analysis and Visualization Initiative, & Anthony Buissereth, North Brooklyn Neighbors.
- unARchived, Abraham Avnisan, Kent State University, Christian Anderson, University of Washington Bothell, & Amir Sheikh, Independent Scholar.
Congratulations NYS Sen. Zellnor Myrie, District 20
from bklyner:
Urban Studies alumnus Zellnor Myrie celebrated his inauguration in East Flatbush on Monday, February 11, 2019, before a host of electeds and constituents where everyone spoke to a new senatorial district 20.
After graduating from Brooklyn Technical High School, the 32-year-old attended Fordham University and then Cornell Law School. He was joined on stage by his mother, Marcelina Cummings, who was a staunch supporter of the lawmaker’s senatorial bid. Cummings came to the states from Costa Rica and worked as a factory worker initially.
“We must follow the command to be courageous,” said Myrie. “The problems that are facing our communities cannot be solved with the same solutions of yesterday. They require us to be courageous in our aspirations.”
“We will be bold in our actions and we will be bold on how we attack them,” said Myrie on how he’s looking to tackle the issues plaguing the community, including housing and homelessness.”
“Think about what he’s already accomplished,” said NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer who was also in attendance. “Early voting, early voting—the consolidation of state and local primaries — I’ll give you a fact as comptroller— that’s a savings of $50 million that can go to education and healthcare and housing. That’s what he did”.
Read the full story at Bklyner.
What Makes a Great City Tick?
Director of Urban Studies, and Professor of Political Science, Annika Hinze, is researching the best practices for making cities just, fair, and equitable for all.
“If you go into communities and interview people who live in what we call gentrifying communities, a lot of them welcome the changes in the neighborhood. Everybody wants to live in a nice neighborhood, with good infrastructure, and good schools that come with gentrification. It’s just that the residents want to stay in the neighborhood once it turns.”
Because cities are growing in importance around the globe, Hinze said she’s eager to continue partnerships with institutions in Pretoria, Berlin, and Amsterdam, and recruit more international students to study in New York. Closer to home, courses like The Urban Lab, which is being co-taught this semester by former urban studies director Rosemary Wakeman, Ph.D., professor of history, and Fordham Law’s Sheila Foster, exemplify the way the urban studies degree is truly interdisciplinary.
Read the full story by Patrick Verel at Fordham News.
Mark Street Defends the Art of Street Photography in Filmmaker Magazine
Mark Street, writer, filmmaker, and Assistant Professor of Film in the Visual Arts Program at Fordham, defends his craft in an article for Filmmaker Magazine: "In Defense of Street Photography in an iPhone Age."
“Oddly, as filming in one medium (the cellphone) has become ubiquitous, people seem to fear the semi-professional more and more. A professional film shoot ascribes to standards — releases are signed, tacit agreements are made, those filmed understand the scope of the project. As someone who works alone (without a crew that creates a kind of picture a passerby might be able to understand) I often find myself at pains to explain myself.”
Read the full article at Filmmaker Magazine
2019 Urban Studies Senior Theses
- Designing the City, Sustainably: Sustainability and Climate Change Resiliency in New York City by Cosima Balletti-Thomas
- Making Sustainability Accessible: Green Affordable Housing Development in the South Bronx by Natalie A. Bartfay
- Raising an Indoor Generation: Outdoor Environmental Education Impact on Adolescent Development by Daisy Elizabeth Bewley
- The Fault with Asphalt: Towards Absorbent Urban Design in New York City by Scott Paul Redfern Brown
- Preparing for Climate Change in New York City: Geographic Information Systems as a Valuable Tool for Natural Hazard Management by Amy Carrillo
- Problems and Possibilities of Private Equity and Environmental Sustainability by Katherine N. Elliot
- The University Greening Movement: Is Carbon Neutrality Enough to Avert a Climate Crisis? by Sean R. Finlay
- Food Choice Reform: Shifting American Culture Toward Sustainable Diets by Colleen McCarthy
- The Breath of the Bronx: Limited Greenspace and Poor Respiratory Health by Eric Patrick McLoughney
- Nature as Privilege: How Environmental Racism Changes the Access to Fresh Air and the Effects on New York City’s Communities by Sarah C. Morrison
- Breaking Ground on New Agricultural Models: Industrial Agriculture and the Local Food Movement by Elizabeth Nealon
- Ecotourism Development in Indigenous Communities: A Mapuche Case Study by Shaelynn Taylor Nuckel
- Fighting Food Insecurity for NYC Children and Youth: Urban Agriculture and Food Justice by Devin C. O'Mara
- Documentaries Making a Difference: Communication Effects of Environmental Film and Television by Lindsey A. Register
- Ethical Implications of Population Growth and Reduction by Tiana Sepahpour
- Wasteful Talent: Eliminating Entertainment Waste and Enhancing Experience by Eric Alexandra Lucia Sottile
- Green Politics: The Impact of Grassroots Organizations on Environmental Political Movement by Eric Andrew Stolar
- This Land is My Land: The Complex Land Ethics at the Heart of the Occupation of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge by Fi V. Whalen
2018 Urban Studies Senior Theses
- Inch by Inch: Expanding the Community Garden Programs in New York City by Michael Bailey
- A Historical, Political and Social Look into the Problem of Floatable Pollution in NYC's Bronx River by Zoe L. Bellapigna
- Subsidizing Climate Change: How the Agricultural Business is Harming Our Planet by Caroline Berejka
- Radical Social Ecology as Deep Pragmatism: A Call to the Abolition of Systemic Dissonance and the Minimization of Entropic Chaos by Arielle Brender
- A Green Opportunity: Why American Conservatives Will Benefit By Fighting Climate Change by Byrne W. Cronin
- Food Apocalypse: The Future of the American Diet by Kylie Farrell
- A Conservative Concern: Conservative Ideology, The Environmental Crisis, and Why They Can Be A Perfect Pair by Alexandra Ferreira
- Building a Bridge Between Philanthropy and Profit: The History, Economics, and Politics of Environmental Impact in a Commerce Society by Yekaterina Goncharova
- Apicentrism in City Parks: Cultivating Honey Bee Prosperity in the Face of Colony Collapse Disorder by John Hughes
- The Impacts of Green Spaces on Crime in New York City by Matthew Edward Iannone Jr.
- Sustainable Interiors: Green Design Methods and its Influence on Ecopsychology by Tillie M. O'Reilly
- Pacific in Peril: Micronesia’s Food Security, Development, and Health under A Changing Climate by Yota Pacifico Oue
- Turbines Spinning Towards a Better Future: The Expansion of Offshore Wind Farms in the United States by Noah J. Stiles
- The Planet on Our Plates: The History, Economics, and Ethics of an Unsustainable Globalized Food System by Erin Wattley
- Farming the Bronx: The Potential for Controlled-Environment Agriculture to Address Environmental Degradation and Urban Social Issues by Reyna Wang
- Burmese Refugee Health: The Value of Plant-Based Medicine by Natalie Wodniak
2017 Urban Studies Senior Theses
- Assessing the Effects of Ecotourism on the Developing World: A Galapagos Case Study by Ife Adelona
- The Disappearing Wetland Act: Climate Change, Development, and Protection by Jessica P. Doughty
- Greenways In America: The Ecosystem Services of Urban Greenways and their Neighborhood Benefits by Bryan E. Kiel
- Housing the Homeless: A Framework for Sustainable, Affordable Housing by Brianna Providence
- Urban Parks for All: Reclaiming Public Green Space in New York City by Emily Putnam
- Fracking in Pennsylvania: History, Geopolitics, and Public Health by Kathryn A. Susko
2016 Urban Studies Senior Theses
- Do or Die: Environmental History, Environmental Politics and Environmental Economics and Their Implications for Mitigating the Effects of Climate Change by Christopher Cannon
- Urban Parks: A Study on Park Inequity and EcoGentrification in New York City by Bernadette Corbett
- A Case for Career and Technical Education (CTE) in Reducing High School Dropout Rates and Youth Unemployment Among Urban Youth by Sharnell Creary
- Mindless Meat: An Exploration of Meat’s Role in Environmental Degradation and World Hunger by Camille A. Danielich
- Rising Temperatures, Rising Stakes: The Role of International Policy Negotiations in the Climate Crisis by Sarah M. Davis
- Improving Transit in Southeast Queens: Upgrading Public Transportation in One of New York City’s Most Isolated Areas by Thomas Dorante
- The Solar Power Difference: How Solar Energy Can Boost Economies and Nicaragua's Rural Communities by Matthew R. Feuer
- Gentrification and Urban Displacement Surrounding Fordham University’s Bronx Community by Ryan Fleites
- Infiltrating Green into the Urban Machine: Creating Equity Through Zero-Acreage Farms in NYC by Hania Hribal-Kornilowicz
- Parks and W[rec]k: Ecosystem Services of Urban Parks by Serena Iacoviello
- Sustainable Development: Challenge, Policy, Solution by Karl W. Knotoff
- Giving Trees: Protecting our Urban Forest by Catherine C. LaPerche
- Climate and Crisis: Environmental Degradation and Humanitarian Disaster in Darfur by Talia Macauley
- New York City Underwater: Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation by Anna Marshall
- Why Support Donald Trump by Morgan Mungerson
- Wave and Tidal Energy in New York: Sustainable Hydroelectricity for the Grid by Lucas Basil Romanowsky
- Heroin Devastates Hen Hud: A Case Study by Mikela Ryan
- Case Study: Bronx River Alliance Successful Strategies of Urban Non-Profit Environmental Organizations by Danielle Rose Shtab
- East Harlem: An Inquiry into Development by Madeleine Sims
- Feeding America's Growing Cities: The Role of Urban Agriculture in the Future of Food Distribution And Accessibility by Leigh Anne Statuto
- Teacher Voice And The Charter School Experience by Anthoula Vasiliou
- Silent Summer: The EPA Spill & Neglected Navajos - A Review of Environmental Tragedies in Navajo Nation & Their Effect on Diné Life by Jillian Verzino
- Campaigning in 140 Characters (or Less): How Twitter Changed Running for President by Joseph Vitale
- The Gowanus Canal: Delving into the Murky and Mysterious waters Of Brooklyn’s Toxic Canal by Victoria L. Von Ancken
- A Wasteful Disposition: How A Consumerist Society Can Slowly Become Zero-Waste by Paige G. Werman
- Solar Panels: Lighting our Future Path by Charles M. Woessner
- Suzhou in History: City Layout and Urban Culture by Zhiyi Zhou
2015 Urban Studies Senior Theses
- Nature Deficit Disorder and the Need for Environmental Education by Vanessa J. Dwyre
- Greening a Drug-Addicted Economy: Can Puerto Rico Ease Away from the Toxic Pharmaceutical Industry to a Sustainably Diverse Economy? by Natalie Galarza
- Trouble in Paradise: How the California Drought is Affecting Vineyards and the Wine Industry by Sarah Gonsier
- The Interstate Highway System and Environmental Justice: Disproportionate Environmental Impacts on Low Income and Minority Communities by Dylan T. Katz
- Home Gardens: A Key to a Sustainable Future by Keara C. Galvin
- Hydroponic Farming: An Opportunity for South Bronx Communities by Adam Keally
- Prototyping the Environmental Impacts of 3D Printing: Claims and Realities of Additive Manufacturing by Valerie B. Meyer
- Fishing For a Sustainable Future: Aquaponics as a Method of Food Production by Richard Ramsundar
- From The Web Into The World: An Analysis of Millennial Environmentalism by Edward Van Buren
- Redlining the Green: Environmental Racism and Justice in the Bronx by Kelsey Vizzard