Hunter College’s School of Social Work to Open in East Harlem
MANHATTAN — Hunter College’s school of social work will celebrate the official opening of its new East Harlem location Tuesday at a ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring school officials and local politicians.
The eight-story, $135 million building, located on Third Avenue between East 118th and 119th streets, features an auditorium, library, café and art gallery, in addition to classrooms and faculty offices.
The Hunter School of Social Work had been housed at 129 E. 79th Street since 1969, but the Upper East Side building was sold to make way for a 19-story luxury high-rise.
Using proceeds from the building’s sale, owners Lois V. and Samuel J. Silberman made a $30 million donation to the construction of the new headquarters. The school, now called the Lois V. and Samuel J. Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, was renamed in honor of the donation.
“[T]he new building will make possible a wide range of community engagement opportunities,” Hunter College President Jennifer Raab explained in a statement when the project began in 2009.
The new East Harlem campus will also house CUNY’s School of Public Health at Hunter College, the library and archives for Hunter’s Center for Puerto Rican Studies, and the Brookdale Center for Healthy Aging and Longevity.
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, State Senator Jose Serrano and Assemblyman Robert Rodriguez will be on hand for Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting, scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m.