Announcing a juried competition for essays that reflect on the Manhattan street grid as paradigm, rubric or muse for urban life, in honor of the 200th anniversary of the plan that established Manhattan’s street grid. Deadline: February 1st, 2012 
In a deceptively modest-seeming exhibition hall on the first floor of the Museum of the City of New York is a show titled The Greatest Grid: The Master Plan of Manhattan, 1811-2011, a history of the 1811 plan for Manhattan’s grid, now celebrating its 200th anniversary. The size of the exhibit…
New Yorkers take it for granted that we can say things like “meet me at 85th Street and Third Avenue” and know that regardless of whether someone has been to that intersection, they will easily be able to get there. It’s all thanks to Manhattan’s legendary street grid, which celebrates its 200th anniversary this year.
A little history of the grid
In 1807, frustrated by years of uncontrolled development and a decade of public health epidemics attributed to lower Manhattan’s cramped and irregular streets…
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David Vega-Barachowitz investigates the policies, stakeholders and theories that have historically shaped street design standards in the US, and calls on designers to rethink how we share and use our roads. |
This week, two exhibitions opened at the Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) that celebrate the evolving legacy of Manhattan’s street grid. In one of the Museum’s ground floor galleries, urban historian Hilary Ballon has curated The Greatest Grid: The Master Plan of Manhattan, 1811-2011, a historical show…
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Landscape designer David Seiter champions the ecological and aesthetic benefits of informal plants – weeds – in urban space, and catalogues the uses and cultural significance of New York’s native flora. |
On November 20, Nathan Kensinger, in collaboration with UnionDocs, presented “Block by Block,” a panel discussion with four of New York’s most active street historians. Author Kevin Walsh, location scout Nick Carr, urban explorer Moses Gates and guide Cindy VandenBosch exemplify a vital and contemporary iteration of the long-standing New York tradition of “un-official,” “informal,” “underground,” and “alternative” histories. The event presented each individual’s work, methodology, adventures and stories, and in so doing…
MTA NO-BIN EXPERIMENT
New York City residents are deeply skeptical of a new pilot program designed to reduce litter in subway stations. Garbage cans have been completely removed from two stations, the 8th Street N station in Manhattan and the Main Street 7 station in Queens, in a test to see if their absence…
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Transportation and livable streets advocate Mark Gorton explains why the car is a flawed technology for cities and shares his vision for a mostly auto-free New York. |
MEET ME IN A BOWL
Times Square is now host to an outdoor urban furniture installation titled “Meeting Bowls,” created in partnership with the Times Square Alliance and design firm mmmm… The Meeting Bowls are three, 8-person, slatted bowls (highly reminiscent of salad spinners), which are meant to offer a place for intimate social experiences in the midst of one of the city’s busiest spaces. The…
