By Jeff Coltin
Becky Peters stood in front of a classroom, pausing in thought for just a second to consider a deceptively easy question: “What’s the fastest way to Central Park?”
“Well, Central Park is huge!” she started. “It depends on where you want to go…”, and Peters dove into an exhaustive account of D trains, Ram Vans, park geography and hot spots.
Peters, GSB ’12, GBA ‘13, will have to get used to questions like that. She has just launched an initiative called “Beyond the Gates” to educate Rose Hill students about places to go and things to do outside of Fordham’s gated campus. She said she founded it for students like her, “so they don’t live in the Bronx for six years… without ever hearing [about] or being able to go to City Island or any of these various places.”
“Beyond the Gates” was inspired by a trip Peters took to that quaint neighborhood off the Bronx’s east coast. “I went to City Island for this first time this summer, in 2014, and I’ve been living in the Bronx since 2008. I thought that was an issue.”
Peters first came to the Bronx six years ago for her freshman year at Fordham. She was a star high school basketball player in Plainsboro, New Jersey, and was recruited to play for the Rams. She said that she made her decision to come to Fordham as soon as she saw the banner hanging in the gym. “‘New York is my campus, Fordham is my school.’ That literally sold me,” she said. After living on campus for her four years of undergraduate study, she stayed in the Bronx, renting an apartment off-campus while attending the Graduate School of Business at Lincoln Center and working in public accounting in Manhattan.
“Beyond the Gates” is still in its early stages. There is a Facebook group where Peters posts information on student deals and events happening in the Bronx. She’s gone from business to business on Arthur Avenue and on City Island asking about student deals. She has dreams of partnering up with Fordham admissions.
“There’s actually a woman who does Arthur Avenue food tours,” Peters said. “I think in addition to an on-campus tour, that would be a great asset to a prospective student. You’re getting Fordham on-campus, but you’re also getting everything that goes with it, which is Arthur Avenue.”
Peters fielded the fastest-way-to-Central Park question at an event on Wednesday, Sept. 24, by Fordham’s Office for International Services. It was her first time presenting “Beyond the Gates” to a group, and talked for more than an hour. The accountant relished the chance for a creative project. “This is definitely an outlet,” Peters said. “I don’t get to do much talking at work.”
Christina Gaskin, GSB ’15, appreciated the presentation for teaching about “different places that I can go and see, places that people don’t traditionally associate with New York.” She mentioned Orchard Beach, a single bus ride away from Rose Hill, as an example.
Jessica Yang, FCRH ’17 was not so convinced. She says she does not really like the Bronx, and the presentation did not make her think differently. “I prefer Long Island where you get trees, and grass, and fresh air,” she said. However, she had a lot of questions and was glad Peters could answer them.
Despite Yang’s protestations, “Beyond the Gates” is just focused on the Bronx for now. But Peters is not opposed to expanding in the future.
“New York City is so huge!” she said. “People are going to explore Manhattan on their own, but there are a couple gems I want to emphasize in the Bronx before we get too broad.”
Those hidden gems include the Bronx Equestrian Center in Pelham Bay Park, where Peters said she just went horseback riding for $20, and Bay Plaza Shopping Center, recently expanded in the Northeast Bronx with an H&M and a Macy’s.
As for the fastest way to Central Park—or almost anywhere—Peters has a simple piece of advice: “There are buses that take you to the D train. A lot of students, a lot of alumni think that you have to walk up the hill to get to the subway system… That’s what I want every Fordham student to know; they don’t have to walk up the hill to the D train!”
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Jeff Coltin is the Bronx Correspondent for The Fordham Ram.
