WikiTakesPhotos with CUNY!

The Pepsi-Cola sign in Long Island City, NY, uploaded by MX3141. Creative Commons Attribution- ShareAlike 4.0 International

Birds flying over Townsend Harris Hall, City College of New York, uploaded by Advocat. Creative Commons Attribution- ShareAlike 4.0 International

This month, the CUNY-Newmark Wikimedian-in-Residence Richard Knipel hosted photo tours on and around two CUNY campuses: The City College of New York in Harlem and LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City.

Grotesque graveyard at CCNY, uploaded by HPPYCYCLNG. Creative Commons Attribution- ShareAlike 4.0 International

Long Island City Courthouse, uploaded by Anonymouscarrots. Creative Commons Attribution- ShareAlike 4.0 International

Thanks to the work of CUNY and Wikimedia NYC, photographers from the NYC Wiki community came together to document overlooked buildings and landmarks in Harlem and Long Island City. Following the photo tours, Richard helped participants upload their images to Wikimedia Commons with guidance from the CUNY librarians, faculty, Queens Public Library staff, and local historian Alan Archivala.

Images by Abigail Hendrix

This project not only added new contemporary assets to Wikimedia Commons—CUNY’s Office of Library Services also collaborated with archivists Renae Rapp and Sydney Van Nort at the City College of New York to bring some of their archival photographs to Wikimedia Commons.

Workmen Constructing Atrium of North Academic Center. City College of New York Archives. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

W137th Street Station Sign ca. 1900. City College of New York Archives. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

Projects like these are a fantastic way to make more images free and accessible to the public, but they are also a tool to build Wiki community. We hope that these events inspired participants to utilize Wikimedia Commons in their everyday lives as both users and contributors. Stay tuned for more Wikipedia events in NYC!