Following in the footsteps of Cornell Tech, the School of Industrial and Labor Relations opened on Feb. 28 a new New York City outpost at an opening ceremony headlined by Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-N.Y.).
The ILR school’s revamped Midtown outpost now occupies the 11th and 12th floor of the historic General Electric Building, located at 570 Lexington Avenue.
The space also marks a significant upgrade over its previous 34th street location: The facility is a fully-fledged 40,000-square-foot space that includes offices for nearly 100 people, in addition to a production studio, a cafe, full-service conference services and classrooms that can fit up to 150 students, according to the Cornell Chronicle.
ILR has a long history in Manhattan. After the school was founded in 1945, ILR soon established itself in Manhattan in 1948, said Interim Dean Alex Colvin in a Cornell Chronicle article. However, the newly renovated space is better optimized to achieve ILR’s mission of working directly with unions and businesses while also furthering educational opportunities for students.
The new outpost is now the home of seven ILR institutes: the Worker Institute, ILR Executive Education, the Scheinman Institute, the Labor and Employment Law Program, the Institute for Compensation Studies, the Smithers Institute for Alcohol-Related Workplace Studies, and the Institute for Workplace Studies, according to ILR’s website.
De Blasio — long considered a strong proponent of organized labor — said he hoped “generations of really talented, committed people” will use the Midtown space to be trained to build “a productive, positive relationship between labor and management.”
“This expansion means a lot … your work is absolutely crucial. Your expanding can only mean great things for New York City and for this country,” de Blasio told the audience at the ceremony, according to a University press release.
“This new Manhattan hub creates a shared home for a wide range of Cornell programs and offices in New York City, strengthening our downstate presence, the connections between our upstate and downstate campuses, and the connection between Cornell and New York state more broadly,” said Cornell President Martha E. Pollack to the Cornell Chronicle.
“It will support expanded opportunities for faculty research, student learning and public engagement, all in a wonderful new space that encourages collaboration across many disciplines,” she said.