This event is a part of a series of six programs associated with Nonstop Metropolis: The Remix, leading up to the launch of Rebecca Solnit and Joshua Jelly-Schapiro’s New York atlas Nonstop Metropolis at the Queens Museum in November 2016. Heather Smith’s essay Water and Power is a jumping off point for the map of the same name; both found in Nonstop Metropolis. Duke Riley’s sprawling drawing That’s What She Said, 2016, on view with the Museum’s model of New York’s Watershed system is inspired and informed by the same. Together, these explore the important role played by water in New York City’s rise to economic and political power.

A Tour of Ridgewood Reservoir in Highland Park

Join in an exploration of the former City of Brooklyn reservoir in Highland Park. Ridgewood Reservoir was built in response to Brooklyn’s growing demand for clean water, much as Manhattan had built the Croton system some 15 years earlier. While the Croton system is still active, Ridgewood’s is defunct, as is Brooklyn’s status as an independent city; the old reservoir is now mostly overgrown by forest. Is there a message about the future of water and power in our city hidden in the story of Ridgewood Reservoir?

NYC H2O guide Jonathan Turer will lead a walk around the reservoir to find out.

Meeting place: Highland Park.  At the foot of the stairs/ramp across from the Vermont Place parking lot. Use the address 1 Vermont Place for map/navigation purposes. Please arrive promptly at 10am, there is no opportunity to join the tour later.