The Center for the Urban Environment Has Closed Its Doors

The Eagle learned (via a posting on Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn) the the 30-year-old Center for the Urban Environment (CUE) — formerly the Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment — has closed its doors. Calls to the center yielded voice mails or former employees not at liberty to give statements.

In early March, Executive Director Sandi Franklin (who took over from founder John Muir) resigned after eight years of service and was replaced by Pat Synan, a member of CUE's board of directors. In her tenure, she moved CUE to its current location on Seventh St. in Gowanus. The building was renovated and recently achieved LEED Gold certification.

There's no doubt that Brooklyn has lost a valuable institution. CUE sponsored tours of all five boroughs of New York City and held programs at over 300 schools city-wide, educating students about the urban environment and sustainability.

In November, Franklin told the Eagle, “It’s a quiet revolution. I think its getting louder among [the activists.] But I don’t think it’s getting louder among the immigrant population, and I don’t think it’s getting louder in the ghetto populations, and I don’t think its getting louder in deprived and poverty stricken populations.

“It’s because they can’t afford to engage in it because they’re worried about survival,” she added. “I’m trying to flip it — I’m trying to say: ‘Let’s make survival this.’”

CUE will be missed.

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