From Foundry to Future: Securing Public Investment for Brooklyn Tech’s Next Great Learning Space
From Foundry to Future
Securing Public Investment for Brooklyn Tech’s Next Great Learning Space
For more than a century, Brooklyn Technical High School has prepared generations of students for leadership in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Today, with nearly 6,000 students enrolled, Tech remains the largest specialized STEM high school in the nation—but a significant portion of its physical infrastructure no longer meets the demands of a modern, project-based education.
That reality has been especially clear in one long-dormant space: the original 1930s metalworking foundry. Occupying a block-long, skylit footprint, the foundry was once a place where students created sand molds for casting, smelted metal, and produced functional machine parts such as gears. With 40-foot ceilings and cathedral windows overlooking Fort Greene Park, the space has sat unused for decades. Now, thanks to sustained advocacy and leadership by the Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation, this historic room is on its way to becoming a Multimedia, Multiuse Research and Collaboration Center designed for 21st-century learning.
Championing the Vision—and Securing the Funding
The Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation has played a central role in advancing the Foundry plan from concept to key initial funding allocations, working closely with Tech Principal David Newman and elected officials to articulate the urgent need for investment. Brooklyn Tech’s existing library has just twelve computers and two printers, and the school lacks meaningful student collaboration space—a critical gap for a curriculum increasingly centered on research, teamwork, and innovation.
That advocacy translated into significant public investment. In the FY26 City budget, approved last June, $5 million in New York City capital funding was secured to support the renovation of the foundry, led by a partnership of Council Member Crystal Hudson and Council Member Susan Zhuang. Both council members toured the facility, worked closely with Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation board and staff members and school administrators, and advocated to ensure the project remained in the final city capital budget.
In total, $6.5 million has been secured by the Alumni Foundation for the project to date, including $1.5 million in earlier New York State allocations championed by former State Senator Iwen Chu ($1 million) and former State Assemblyman Peter Abbate ($500,000).
The Foundry represents what the Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation does best: bringing alumni leadership, public investment, and educational vision together to create real opportunity for students. These are our donors’ funds at work. This project will benefit not only Brooklyn Tech, but the broader STEM ecosystem across Brooklyn.”
David Lee ’78, President, Board of Directors, Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation
This investment reflects a broader commitment to education as a foundation for long-term opportunity and economic mobility—ensuring students have access to the modern spaces and tools they need to succeed.
A Transformational Space for Students —and the Community
Once complete, the Foundry will be transformed into an approximately 10,000 square-foot, two-story center featuring air conditioning, upgraded electrical systems, high-speed fiberoptic internet, renovated skylights, new computers and printers, and flexible, movable furniture designed for collaboration and co-working.
Beyond serving Tech students, the Foundry will extend its impact well outside the school’s walls. The space is envisioned as a hub for the Brooklyn Tech Future World Vision STEM Pathways Consortium, which partners with under-resourced middle schools across Brooklyn to expand access to hands-on STEM learning. Each year, thousands of middle school students and families participate in STEM conferences, exhibitions, and collaborative projects supported by Tech students, staff, and alumni mentors.
Under the guidance of architect and board member Anthony P. Schirripa '67, Chairman Emeritus of Mancini (formerly Mancini Duffy), the Alumni Foundation commissioned New York City-based design firm Perkins Eastman, then led by the late Carl Ordemann ’69, to conduct a feasibility study, working alongside Turner Construction, former Tech Principal Randy Asher, and past Alumni Foundation Executive Director Elizabeth Sciabarra. The school is now well positioned to address the next phases of the foundry renovation.
As Principal Newman has emphasized, the new Foundry will be transformational, finally providing the collaboration and research space the school currently lacks—benefiting both Tech students and younger learners across the broader STEM pathway.
This renovation is about more than a building—it’s about giving students the space to collaborate, innovate, and imagine what’s possible. The Foundry will enhance Brooklyn Tech’s academic excellence with facilities worthy of its students’ ambition.”
Courtney J. Ulrich ’90, Executive Director, Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation
THE WORK AHEAD—AND HOW ALUMNI CAN HELP
Securing city funding represents a major milestone—but it is not the finish line. The Foundry is part of a larger, long-term effort by the Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation to modernize a 90-year-old building and ensure it continues to serve future generations. The Foundation has already invested in comprehensive capital planning and identified additional needs that will require private philanthropic support to bring this vision fully to life.
Public funding has helped us to unlock this visionary project, but alumni support will be essential to see it through. Brooklyn Tech is advancing because alumni are stepping up—and the transformation of the Foundry will be no different.”
Michael A. Weiss ’57, Member, Board of Directors, and Co-Founder, Alumni Foundation
The Foundation is proving that our donors’ funds are being put to real work. As the project moves into its next phase, alumni engagement will be essential. From direct contributions to participating in advocacy, mentorship, and partnership, alumni have always played a defining role in sustaining Brooklyn Tech’s excellence.
Together, we are returning the abandoned foundry, once a symbol of possibility and promise, to its original purpose of forging future leaders. With continued alumni support, we can continue the job—and ensure that Brooklyn Tech students have the spaces they need to collaborate, innovate, and lead in a rapidly changing world.
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