newtown creek
The Omnibus Roundup: Historical photo-maps, vibrant soundscapes, downtown development, brownfields, dumpster pools

Our digs at the corner of Broadway and Houston, 127 years ago. Source: The New York Public Library, via SepiaTown

Sometimes taking a look at how we used to see and imagine the city is as valuable as looking ahead to its future, and we…

The Omnibus Roundup – Water Underground, oily water, and underwater kites

Our friends at the Center for Urban Pedagogy have released their latest project, The Water Underground, in collaboration with the Lower East Side Ecology Center, City-as-School and RECYouth. CUP worked with students to research and produce a video exploring our city’s…

Newtown Creek Plant Visitor Center is now open

Thankfully, Urban Omnibus readers are not the only people in the world who get super excited about things like New York’s first ever visitor center for a public infrastructure project. Our friends at Fresh Kills Park alerted us on Friday to the news the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Facility would now invite the public to…

The Omnibus Roundup – Grimshaw, cab stands, bike racks, creek clean-up, Armory controversy, and floorplan porn

Next Tuesday, the Architectural League will host a talk by Andrew Whalley, who heads up the New York Office of the international architecture firm Grimshaw Architects. Many of this firm’s current and recent work has Urban Omni-love written all over it, from the expansion of the Queens Museum…

The Omnibus Roundup – white roofs, urban jaunts, flashcards and a meet-up

Everyone knows that the rooftops of New York are the city’s most underutilized real estate asset. But while convincing your landlord to install that bamboo roofdeck might be a challenge, telling her to paint it white should, in theory, be an easy sell. Climate change implications aside, it saves money…

The Omnibus Roundup – Goo Gone, toxic creeks, megaprojects

First off, save the date: on Tuesday, July 7th, please come and join us and our friends and neighbors, the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP), for a different kind of SUPERFUND conversation called… “Goo Gone: a live talk show about risk, responsibility and toxins in the landscape.” Panelists…

The Omnibus Roundup – Broadway, overleverage, Putting Lot, taxis, Manhattanhenge

This week on the Omnibus, the city’s much anticipated closing of Broadway’s midtown blocks spearheaded by DOT commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan was heralded as a manifold success: relief for traffic circulation! A triumph for public space — moveable chaises…

The Omnibus Roundup – subways, rebloggings, street design, Newtown, concrete

While we’re talking about subway rides, take a look at three (1, 23) visualizations of subway ridership in New York City from 1905 to 2006. These maps not only illustrate stories of neighborhood change, but they’re also just plain cool.  (via information

05 22 09 • by Urban Omnibus, , ,
Now that’s what I call a meet-up

The first impromptu Omnibus meet-up, thanks in large part to our friends at WNYC, was a huge success. More than 80 people showed up to explore the Newtown Creek Nature Walk…

Newtown Creek meet-up and tour this Thursday!

About a month ago we posted a video site tour of the Newtown Creek Nature Walk with artist and designer George Trakas. Something about this unexpected urban park struck a chord with many of you, so we, along with our friends at

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