Impacts on Poly
Poly President George Bugliarello
Prior to the development of MetroTech, the environment in Downtown Brooklyn presented Polytechnic University with many challenges. The neighborhood around campus was unappealing to students and buisinesses, and many avoided it. Poly even faced a drop in enrollment in the 1970s, which a student blamed on the "lousy neighborhood" they were in, where muggings occurred and night-time students were scared to be around there. Some administrators had even proposed relocating the university outside of Brooklyn entirely. George Bugliarello had to made the decision to keep Poly alive in Brooklyn or move it somewhere else.
George Bugliarello, the president of Polytechnic University from 1973 to 1994, was a key player in the conception of MetroTech Center. In the mid 1960s, the area of Downtown Brooklyn faced significant issues, including aging infrastructure and high rates of crime and poverty, there was a need for revitalization and modernization. Bugliarello saw this idea as an amazing opportunity to redevelop the campus of Polytechnic University, to enhance the student experience, and promote economic development in the neighborhood. He played a significant role in the development of MetroTech, being credited as the “mastermind” behind it by NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering, which was previously known as Polytechnic University. Bugliarello saw the potential in the MetroTech area and of Poly to revitalize Downtown Brooklyn, as a “university-industry collaboration” would be developed through it.
Magazine page discussing Bugliarello's view on why the development of Poly was important
Forum describing a "livelier campus life" for Poly students.
The goal for Poly in the redevelopment of MetroTech was to improve the college experience and opportunities for their students. A new library would be built with advanced technologies would allow for better access to information, and new labs, equipment, classrooms, lecture halls, auditoriums, group and individual study facilities would be developed.
There would also be close contact between students and facult with tech companies across campus like Morgan Stanley, SIAC, and Brooklyn Union Gas. Students would also have more opportunities to apply their skills by getting experience at leading tech producers as a result of increased internships and employment with companies right on campus.
Dibner Library/CATT Building (after 1990)
After MetroTech's developments, many students at Poly were happy about the upgrades to the campus facilities and the development made in the university's connections. In a section of the student led newspaper at Poly, The Reporter, three students spoke on how Poly had "helped them mature and grow" and that there were "benefits of attending a university which has an industrial park on its campus." Bugliarello was attempting to establish more connections between the university and the environment and industries around it and they were able to establish a few partnerships, including with the National Science Foundation (NSF), who funded the research and development of the insitutions and laboratories.
However, there were some students that felt differently about the developments.
On February 17, 1992 The Reporter featured the story "Paradigm of Diversity Includes Foreign Students" on the front page. Foreign students made up about 39% of the student body of undergraduate and graduate levels combined, many of them coming to the U.S. because "the educational system here is more advanced and serious." Foregin students also highlighted other positive aspects of Poly, including "better facilities, and the teaching of the latest technological research methods."
But, in the next issue, The Reporter staff wrote a note acknowledging responses from several students to the last issue. They received negative feedback from several students asking "Where in Poly are these great facilities? In what building?" Despite all the hype around the new and improved facilities at Poly, many students did not feel that the promises of these upgraded facilities were fulfilled.