Last year, a consortium of architects, scholars, real estate developers and urban planners formed a co-operative called The Metropolitan Exchange, or MEx, in downtown Brooklyn (that happens to be the name of the building in which they roost, at 33 Flatbush Avenue). Tomorrow evening, the brain trust makes its first official offering by way of the debut of a lecture series, Metropolitan Exchanges, "intended to spark dialogue between community members, architects, planners, activists and politicians about transformations to Downtown Brooklyn." Tom Angotti of Hunter College will speak about his new book New York for Sale: Community Planning Confronts Global Real Estate. "Professor Angotti will help to contextualize opportunities and challenges to community planning in Brooklyn by sharing stories from his book, discussing how activists have moved beyond simple protests and have formulated plans to protect neighborhoods against urban renewal, real estate mega-projects, gentrification, and environmental hazards." For more events, check their Web site.
