New York City was once the nation’s power house for manufacturing, and many of the buildings and factories that fueled that industry remain. Preserving these buildings and using them to foster green-collar industries or adapting them to new housing, cultural, and retail uses is the most sustainable action New York could take.

Tonight’s program, Recycling New York’s Industrial Past: Inspiration From Home and Abroad, will explore two approaches to preserving industrial buildings: keeping them for manufacturing uses (which also means retaining good-paying jobs) or adapting these buildings to new uses, like the ice skating rink at the former Coking Plant in Essen, Germany, above at left. Tickets are still available for the program and can be purchased by calling 212-935-2075.

Panelists include: Andrew Kimball, president & chief operating officer of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, home to traditional maritime uses and new green jobs; Robert Powers, preservation consultant on the tax-certified rehabilitation of the Austin-Nichols Warehouse; ; and Lisa Kersavage, MAS director of advocacy and policy. Moderated by Mary Habstritt, president of the Society for Industrial Archaeology, with exciting adaptive reuse projects from around the world.

Recycling New York’s Industrial Past: Inspiration From Home and Abroad
Wednesday, October 22, 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., reception to follow.
At The Municipal Art Society, 457 Madison Avenue, at East 51st St.
$15, $12 MAS members/students. Call 212-935-2075 to make your reservation.