Ben Wolf’s new documentary, Changing Lanes, follows the multi-year fight to redesign Brooklyn’s notoriously dangerous McGuinness Boulevard from a high-speed four-lane thoroughfare into a safer, calmer street with protected bike lanes. Filmed over the course of three years, the documentary traces the evolution of the “Make McGuinness Safe” movement and the political, bureaucratic, and community hurdles its advocates faced.
More than a story about one street, Changing Lanes offers a vivid case study in how grassroots movements take shape: the resistance to change, the grip of the status quo, the messiness of political processes, the wins and setbacks, and the mix of strategy, timing, and luck that ultimately drives — or derails — change in our cities.
Join CBH and Field Notes – a forum for people who shape NYC’s public space, climate and parks – for a screening and conversation about this campaign and what it reveals about democracy at the street level. Following the film, director Ben Wolf will be joined by Assemblymember Emily Gallagher, Stuart Shabazz, Founder and CEO of Oonee, and activist Kevin LaCherra for a discussion moderated by Doug Gordon, co-host of The War on Cars podcast and author of the new book Life After Cars.
“Changing Lanes” is 75 minutes.