As I posted here last March, Mayor Eric Adams has announced, in his economic recovery plan for New York City “Rebuild, Renew, Reinvest,” that increasing the video gaming industries contribution to the city’s economy is a high priority for his administration, particularly the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MoME) and the Department of Education. The Mayor’s plan will increase diversity and equity in the growing digital gaming industry and related fields workforce, making New York City a principal hub for digital gaming development.
What I can now share is that the City College of New York (CCNY), with whom I work, will play an important role in expanding the digital gaming industry in NYC. Our new Gaming Pathways program will create and fund a CCNY bachelor’s degree program in Game Design, the first public opportunity of its kind in New York City, developing the curriculum for a Bachelor’s degree program. When classes opened this fall they filled up almost immediately. The $2 million investment in this Pathways, which will be funded by MOME, is planned to reach over 1,000 students over the next three years.
It was exciting to attend the press conference at CCNY and sit in the front row as the Mayor announced the funding. Personally, I think watching the whole press conference is a good idea – as it is full of fascinating bits – but if you only want to watch the mayor of New York City declare his intention to make his city #1 in gaming in the country, you can start right from here:
CCNY is working with Urban Arts Partnership and Harlem Gallery of Science, preparing high school age youth from Title I schools for careers in the tech field, thereby creating a pathway from high school to City College to the digital gaming industry in NYC. The program is also working closely with the new NYC Digital Games Industry Council and is partnering with educators to create pathways from classrooms to careers in digital game design.
As you might recall I co-produced public events in the lead up this announcement last spring – for both high school and college students – and am currently working on a journal, in collaboration with ETC Press, that will share some of the great ideas and fascinating experiences introduced to our students. It will be available for free, and I will share more about it here once it is available. A new slate of public programming is currently in the works. To learn more, please go to the web site here.
[Late addition] The day after I posted the above the NYC office of media released this great video promoting the Pathway. You can check it out here.
