STATE OF THE CITY
In his second to last State of the City address, Mayor Michael Bloomberg touched on a wide range of issues, some expected — such as his commitment to merit-based pay for teachers in the public school …
PLACEMAKING THROUGH LIGHTING
The City’s plan to make Lower Manhattan more vibrant after dark goes beyond simply installing more lights. The title of the New York City Economic Development Corporation’s Request for Proposals, “Placemaking through Lighting,” explains the initiative’s priorities: to use creative illumination to enhance Lower Manhattan’s identity, to attract visitors and investment and to create a sense of place for the area…
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Gary Hustwit, director of design documentaries Helvetica and Objectified, talks about his latest film, a global exploration of the individuals, projects and forces that shape our cities. |
Architectural Record has devoted its September issue, entitled “The Death and Life of a Great American City,” to New York’s transformation over the past decade. A significant portion of the issue is dedicated to rebuilding efforts after 9/11, …
URBAN UMBRELLA
Two years ago, the NYC Department of Buildings and AIA New York sponsored a design competition to develop an innovative solution for city scaffolding. This week, the winning team unveiled the prototype of the “urban umbrella.” The UrbanSHED competition asked designers to create better “sidewalk sheds” — the ubiquitous blue plywood and metal scaffolding structures seen around town. The winning design…
Over the past year, a growing number of online platforms devoted to civic improvements have been launched in cities nationwide, many of them right here in New York. The Institute for Urban Design launched By the City / For the …
DIGITAL ROADMAP
As the digital age descends on NYC, the Bloomberg administration has a plan. Rachel Sterne (the recently appointed 27-year old, first-ever, Chief Digital Officer of New York), recently unveiled the Roadmap for the Digital City, a plan that …
Recently, the discourse surrounding sharing New York’s streets (or perhaps more specifically, how to share them with cyclists) has become, to put it mildly, heated. Cycling in the city and the deployment of bike lanes has garnered widespread attention in the press, with The New York Times, The New Yorker and New York all thoroughly covering…
This weekend marked the convergence of transit gurus, software developers, and private and public service experts for the inaugural TransportationCamp, a weekend-long “unconference” presented by OpenPlans with support from the Rockefeller Foundation. The event — featuring group tours of transportation facilities, talks from industry leaders, and self-propelled discussion sessions — aimed to unite transit professionals and self-proclaimed…
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Jana Leo, the author of Rape New York, a candid account of sexual assault, discusses how the ordeal changed her perspective on property neglect, systemic gaps and neighborhood transition. |
