What we’re about
Welcome to the New York City branch of the Center for Inquiry (CFI).
The Center for Inquiry strives to foster a secular society based on reason, science, free inquiry, and humanist values. The Center for Inquiry New York City sponsors leading thinkers for lectures and panel discussions on science, philosophy, and religion; supports local community events and campus groups; and works with media and opinion makers. We also hold social events to help build a friendly community of secular citizens here in New York City.
For more information, please visit our Web site where you can also signup to receive our monthly newsletter (just click Receive E-Mails at the lower right, and keep up to date on CFI-NYC upcoming events!) .
CFI NYC is a member of Reasonable New York, a coalition of many groups around the New York
area devoted to critical thinking, and celebrating science and secularism.
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- "5th Anniversary of The Green New Deal" (FREE, Panel Discussion)20 Cooper Sq, New York, NY
You MUST register with NYU to attend this LIVE event.
Panel Discussion | Fifth Anniversary of the Green New Deal – Institute for Public Knowledge (nyu.edu)This is likely to be an interesting and controversial event!
"Join IPK for a panel discussion centered around the fifth anniversary of the Green New Deal, which was introduced as a congressional resolution in 2019. The event will focus on the current state of the Green New Deal, the broader climate justice movement, and will evaluate other recent efforts by activists and legislators to enact progressive environmental reforms.
Alyssa Battistoni is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Barnard College. She works and teaches on climate and environmental politics, capitalism, Marxism, feminism, and other topics in contemporary social and political thought. She is also a member of the Climate and Community Project, on the editorial board of Dissent, and a contributing editor at Jacobin. Alyssa is the co-author of A Planet to Win: Why We Need a Green New Deal (Verso 2019), with Kate Aronoff, Daniel Aldana Cohen, and Thea Riofrancos, and is currently completing a book about capitalism and the value of nature, Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature.
Ashley Dawson is Professor of English at the Graduate Center / City University of New York and the College of Staten Island. Recently published books of his focus on key topics in the Environmental Humanities, and include Environmentalism from Below (Haymarket, 2024) and People’s Power: Reclaiming the Energy Commons (O/R, 2020), as well as the essay collection Decolonize Conservation! (Common Notions, 2023). Dawson is a member of the Public Power NY campaign and founder of the Public Power Observatory.
Liza Featherstone is a columnist for Jacobin, as well as for the New Republic’s “Apocalypse Soon” vertical. She’s also a contributing writer to The Nation, and has written for In These Times and many other publications. At NYU, she teaches in the Literary Reportage program at the Arthur Carter Journalism Institute.
Assembly Member Zohran Kwame Mamdani is a democratic socialist representing Astoria, Queens in the New York State Assembly. Prior to his election, he was a foreclosure prevention housing counselor, helping low-income homeowners of color across Queens fight off eviction and stay in their homes. Zohran has continued to fight for working-class New Yorkers in and outside the Legislature: hunger striking alongside taxi workers to win transformative debt relief, organizing Astorians against ConEdison rate hikes, and winning legislation to fund greater transit frequency and a free bus pilot in NYC.After the talk, CFI-NYC will head to a nearby restaurant for dinner and drinks to continue the conversation.