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BOULEVARD OF DREAMS:
THE HISTORY OF THE GRAND CONCOURSE IN THE BRONX

Eugenio María de Hostos Community College of the City University of New York will celebrate the centennial of the Grand Concourse at an event to be held on November 12, 2009 at 5:30 p.m. in the college’s Repertory Theater at 450 Grand Concourse.

To mark this occasion, Sam Goodman, a lifelong Grand Concourse resident, will introduce  Ms. Constance Rosenblum, longtime editor of the City section of the New York Times, who will discuss her book, Boulevard of Dreams:  Heady Times, Heartbreak, and Hope Along the Grand Concourse in the Bronx.  As this book traces the history of the thoroughfare that has served as silent witness to the changing face of the Bronx for the past 100 years, its publication has been timed to coincide with the centennial.

“Hostos is proud to be hosting this event acknowledging the great importance of the Grand Concourse, which has been the college’s home for more than forty years,” said Hostos President Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, who will give greetings at the event. “Like the post office, the court house, the museum, and of course Yankee Stadium, this college has become a landmark on the boulevard of dreams that Ms. Rosenblum has written about so eloquently.”

As part of the program, Hostos students Salonia Cook and Ruwhiy Muhammad will perform a dramatic reading from the “Bronx Slave Market” section of the book.  Ms. Cook is a nursing student, and Ms. Muhammad is majoring in business management.  Both have appeared in productions of the Hostos Repertory Company.

The following appears on the dust jacket: “Designed by a French engineer in the late nineteenth century to echo the elegance and grandeur of the Champs Elysées in Paris, the Grand Concourse was nearly twenty years in the making.  Over the ensuing century it has truly been a boulevard of dreams for various upwardly mobile immigrant and ethnic groups, yet it has also seen the darker side of the American Dream.”

“Hostos Community College celebrates this momentous occasion as we look forward to a hundred more years at this very distinguished address,” said Hostos Professor William Casari, who is coordinating the celebration.  “Please join us in the Repertory Theater on November 12th for this special event.”

Admission is free with tickets that can be obtained at the theatre’s box office (718.518.4455).

Copies of Boulevard of Dreams can be purchased at the event, and the author will be available to sign books after the presentation.

This event is supported by a grant from the New York Council for the Humanities.

Hostos Community College is a unique institution that has experienced a very positive transformation in recent years. With a new President, newly renovated facilities and a faculty dedicated to excellence, the college provides an intellectually rich environment with high academic standards (www.hostos.cuny.edu).

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