In our final Typecast installment exploring towers-in-the-park, Maura Ewing chronicles the lives of two Coney Island housing developments and exposes the political context that undergirds their architectural innovation, construction shortcomings, and the deferred maintenance that threatens their viability as affordable housing assets.

Kristian Sanford contemplates the subjects and gradual decay of memorial murals in Bed-Stuy and considers how time simultaneously erodes and enhances these very personal but highly public artworks.

Yael Friedman explores the social, philosophical, and architectural context of Andrew Carnegie's 1901 philanthropic gift to create neighborhood libraries across New York City.

Presenting the second of two runners-up in our Common Shares writing competition: Yen Ha brings us the story of a pair of strangers navigating the extremes of the sharing economy.

Presenting one of two runners-up in our Common Shares writing competition: Keith Engel gives voice to a man who takes it upon himself to enforce the rules governing the gray area between personal and collective responsibility.

Presenting the winner of our Common Shares writing competition: Frederica Hill sifts through what her neighbors discard to find her own place in the city.

Caitlin Blanchfield uncovers the nuances of Co-op City that make this unique development relevant to our broader understanding of social infrastructure, intergenerational continuity, community pride, and affordability.

In the third article in our Typecast series, Brad Fox travels to Staten Island's Todt Hill Houses and reminds us that amid debates on how design and policy can produce environments of opportunity, people are what ultimately make a place.

Jonathan Tarleton and Gabriel Silberblatt consider the future of Arverne East — 81-acres of vacant, City-owned land in the Rockaways — and tease out distinct visions of how this public asset might be put toward public purpose.

Sarika Bansal investigates how local traditions of advocacy, a history of community tensions, and the chronic underfunding of public housing inform residents' opposition to a controversial new development proposal at Smith Houses.