TOPIC

City Government

Utopia is a Vacant Lot in Rockaway

On the voids storms and plans leave behind, and what we do with them.

Getting to Yes

Facing both urgent land use challenges and growing skepticism of public processes, a new unit for community planning is finding creative ways to engage people in shaping their neighborhoods and the city as a whole.

Something Better Than Nothing

A half-century of experiments in private sector solutions to urban problems has brought mixed results and exacerbated inequality. How did we get here?

Ex Officio

The esthetics of the public sector workplace are mundane, comical, absurd, and constantly navigating the tensions of liberal democracy.

Cleaning Up?

Getting to Zero

Banned from residences for more than half a century, lead paint still poisons thousands of children a year in New York City. Who is responsible for ensuring healthy homes for all?

Cleaning Up?

Concentrated Cleanup

Since 2009, New York City has been incentivizing private cleanup of contaminated sites. Who benefits?

Arch-Conservative

Vito Battista’s journey from public architecture to right-wing politics is an echo of New York’s own cyclical, reactionary tides — and a reminder of how closely the city's politics are tied to the fate of its urban fabric.

Tall Order

LinkNYC failed to deliver on its promise of “bridging the digital divide.” Now, the streetside Wi-Fi kiosks are about to be souped up and supersized as 5G-transmitting towers. But is there any guarantee that New York’s under-resourced populations won’t get left behind, again?

Flows of Mutual Obligation

Through a new, interactive podcast, an artist surfaces the intimate stories and complex connections that bind New York City residents to the land and people who provide their water.

Beyond Diverse

A pedestrian plaza in Queens is widely celebrated for its worldliness. But beneath a colorful surface are more radical lessons in coexistence.