transit
The Omnibus Roundup – Skyscraper Showdown, gubernatorial platforms, In the Footprint, and The Good, the Bad, and the Empty

A “skyscraper showdown” is in headlines this week, making contentious building projects a recurring theme for the summer. This time we have 15 Penn Plaza vs. the Empire State Building. The City Council has approved plans for a 67-story tower to be built two blocks away from, and just 34 feet shorter than, the iconic Empire…

The Omnibus Roundup: underground ships, smart grids, summer outside and electric cars

This week New York City was fascinated by the unearthing of a portion of an 18th Century ship during excavation at the World Trade Center site. CityRoom provided an account of the discovery and of the urgency of its archaeological documentation, noting that the 30-foot segment of the wooden vessel began…

The Omnibus Roundup – FIGMENT, oysters, policy, music and architecture, and the World Cup!

Today FIGMENT NYC, “a forum for the creation and display of participatory and interactive art by emerging artists across disciplines,” kicked off on Governors Island. Watch the video about to get a taste of the installations, performances, workshops, games and activities taking place throughout the weekend (June 12-13, 10am-6pm). While you’re…

The Omnibus Roundup – keys, heavy things, Jackson Heights and transit congestion

In the past, keys to a city were reserved for the heroic and the honored. Now, thanks to artist Paul Ramírez Jonas, you can bestow a key to New York City upon your own personal hero. Through June 27th, “Key to the City” will distribute 35,000 free keys…

Archipelago

This original Urban Omnibus-produced video explores a day in the life of five New York neighborhoods: Hunts Point, Jamaica, Mariner’s Harbor, Downtown Brooklyn, and Chelsea.

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The Omnibus Roundup – another plaza, transit ridership, apps for architects, WTC in 4D and Coney

Union Square is the latest stretch of Broadway that might soon become another one of Bloomberg’s “signature open-air concrete parks,” pedestrianized and plaza-ified like Times Square and Herald Square. The proposal will be presented on Monday to the local community board…

The Omnibus Roundup – Earth Day, urban mobility, murals, billboards and subway etiquette


Up There
from Mekanism on Vimeo.

Yesterday was Earth day. It was also the three-year anniversary of Mayor Bloomberg’s announcement of PlaNYC 2030. Financial and political obstacles have impeded progress on many of the 2009 goals — of the 127 initiatives proposed on Earth Day 2008, only 51 have been…

A Sky without Planes

Front Page of the London Evening Standard, Thursday April 15th, 2010

For the past few days, something has been missing from the urban landscape of London. A quick scan of the city’s streets – red busses, black cabs – shows nothing amiss. Beneath…

To LEED is Human; to Lead, Divine

Vishaan Chakrabarti takes Jaime Lerner’s transformation of Curitiba as a powerful call to action for designers to initiate change in architectural, ecological, political and urban terms.

The Omnibus Roundup – Moynihan, ribbon cuttings, interactive projection campaigns and printing stone

James A. Farley Post Office, photo by Flickr user wallyg.

This week brought some activity back to the Moynihan Station project. The Empire State Development Corporation has officially selected Skidmore, Owings and Merrill for the first phase of the project, which exclusively involves interior and…

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