Warren Weaver Hall, ca. 1975. Upon its completion in 1965, the New York Times described New York University’s Warren Weaver Hall as “the largest mathematics and teaching center in the world.” Designed by the firm Warner, Burns, Toan and Lunde; Weaver Hall replaced “light manufacturing buildings” on Mercer, West 3rd and 4th Streets, and the former 15th Precinct police station at No. 251 Mercer.

Founded in 1900, The Hall of Fame was the first memorial of its kind in the country, built to honor prominent Americans with a significant impact on this nation’s history. Despite its significance, the Hall can seem at odds with the vibrant community that surrounds it, a relational disparity between the honorees represented and the very diverse student body now attending Bronx Community College (BCC). The story of the Hall Fame illustrates our changing attitudes about the idea of greatness, the racialized divestment of the Bronx, and the beginnings of the modern tension between New York’s large institutions of higher education and their surrounding communities.