Hi Vince and Gina,

Below is my outline of a proposed story on Brookdale. I’ve done quite a few stories similar to this. One of my favorites was for Barnard’s new STEM building, titled, “The Science of Moving Science”. I was the editor on this feature for their new center for well-being and I wrote this piece about the architecture, which I think strikes the tone I’d like to use when speaking of Brookdale’s past and future architecture.

Thank you for the opportunity to pitch this.

Tom

In the waning days of 2025, a skeletal staff packed the last boxes for their departure from Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing’s storied Brookdale campus. Tech crews removed monitors while professors and librarians oversaw the final details of a massive move that will, in time, make way for an even larger campus that will bring the historic site into the 21st century and beyond.

If the mood was somewhat melancholic, the presence of the governor, the mayor, and the chancellor tempered the nostalgia. The officials were on hand to celebrate the future of the future SPARC campus and the excitement was palpable.

Governor Hochul said tktktktktktktktktktktktktktktkktktktktktktktktk

 I. Introduction: A Pink-Marble Workhorse 

• Opening scene: Governor Hochul’s press conference on SPARC

• Acknowledgment that the building is entering a moment of transition

• Introduction of the future site as part of SPARC Kips Bay

II. Designed with Intention: What the Building Meant

• Historical context of Bellevue Nursing School and Hunter’s absorption 

• Letter from Florence Nightingale; Interview w/ Joan Madden ‘59, president of the Bellevue Alumnae Assoc.

• Design priorities centered on function, proximity to care, and communal life 

• Key spaces: dining rotunda, visiting parlors, residential floors, game room, pool, generous lobbies, etc. 

• Emphasis on the building as grand but outdated infrastructure

• Quote: Martin Dornbaum
 “This building was never meant to be a monument. It was built to house nurses, to support their work, and to make sure they were close to where care was happening.”



III. Student Life: Pride and Pressure

• Alumni memories layered with observations from the tour

• Daily life marked by rigor, long hours, shared struggle, and strong bonds

• The site (not the building) as a formative environment that will continue across generations

• Quote: Angela Cyrus, Class of 1976
 “Being part of Hunter Bellevue, you felt like you were the prime of the crop. We carried ourselves with integrity, caring, and compassion.”



IV. Understanding the Architecture 

• Architectural perspective via Hunter Prof. Nebahat Avcıoğlu

• Mid-century institutional modernism: durability and monumental scale

• Exterior reliefs; massive, yet, impractical, circulation; and exquisite materials

• Architecture framed as appropriate for its era, but unsustainable 

V. Changing Needs, Clear Limits

• Reference Hurricane Sandy, flooding, and climate vulnerability

• Shifts in healthcare education, research, and safety standards

• Recognition that the building’s limitations, particularly as it relates to energy

• Change framed as forward-looking stewardship



• SPARC introduced as a once-in-a-generation investment in health, science, and education

• New campus designed to support expanded scale, collaboration, and public impact

• List key programmatic elements

• Quote: Nnenna Akoma-Ononaji, Class of 1997
“Whenever something is broken and rebuilt, it’s built for the better. Anything dismantled can come back stronger.”



VII. Conclusion: What Endures

• The building honored as a place that fulfilled its purpose fully and well

• Legacy framed via alumni and mission rather than as an edifice 

• SPARC positioned as taking the baton