Changing Lanes: A Local Documentary Film Screening
Join us for a screening of local documentary Changing Lanes, to be followed by a panel discussion with the filmmaker Ben Wolf, Bronwyn Breitner, and Andrew Epstein.
Politics and planning collide in the struggle over the redesign of Brooklyn’s notoriously dangerous McGuinness Blvd.
When a beloved teacher is tragically killed in a hit-and-run crash in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, a grassroots movement emerges to transform the boulevard into a safer, two-lane street with protected bike lanes.
While many applaud the proposed redesign, it also sparks a backlash. As government support begins to waver, neighbors unite to challenge entrenched interests and fight for a safer Greenpoint.
This particular story is situated within the broader historical, environmental, political and social contexts through interviews with politicians, activists, urban planners, entrepreneurs and cultural icons including David Byrne and Janette Sadik-Khan.
Changing Lanes is a compelling call to action for democracy at street level.
Ben Wolf has served as cinematographer and coproducer on a wide variety of projects, including the feature documentaries Note by Note: The Making of Steinway L1037 (dir. Ben Niles), Ride Rise Roar (dir. Hillman Curtis), Loving Lampposts (dir. Todd Drezner), Obit (dir. Vanessa Gould), The Happy Film (dir. Hillman Curtis/Stefan Sagmeister) and Keeper of Time (dir. Mike Culyba). He also contributed extensively to the photography of Gary Hustwit’s films Helvetica, Objectified, Urbanized and Rams. Splitting his time between Brooklyn and Sicily, he is an avid cyclist, and Changing Lanes is his feature documentary directing debut.
Bronwyn Breitner is an architect and founding principal of Brooklyn-based architecture studio, BC—OA. She has over 20 years of experience shaping the built environment in New York City in a vast portfolio of both private and public work of all scales. In addition to running her own practice, she has taught architectural design studios at Parsons School of Design and Pratt Institute.
Bronwyn is also deeply involved in advocating for safe streets through good design. She is a public member of CB1's Transportation Committee, as well as a civic leader and co-founder of Make McGuinness Safe, a grassroots advocacy organization dedicated to creating a safer, more livable McGuinness Boulevard for her community of North Brooklyn.
Andrew Bard Epstein is a political strategist who led communications for Zohran Mamdani’s groundbreaking campaign for Mayor of New York City, serving as Communications Director and Chief Spokesperson in the primary, and Creative Director in the general.
Andrew previously served as campaign manager and Chief of Staff for New York State Assemblymember Emily Gallagher. Together with Assemblymember Gallagher, Andrew was instrumental in navigating the shifting political landscape around the McGuinness Boulevard redesign and in ultimately winning a community-backed safety plan. He has a background in journalism and labor union work, and holds advanced degrees in history from Yale University and the University of Georgia.
