urban exploration
Elastic City

Neil Freeman and Todd Shalom discuss walking through the city as a medium of art, poetics and urban awareness.

, , , ,
Urban Topographies: Cuts & Patches

Linda Pollak investigates mysterious carvings in the sidewalks of Lower Manhattan and finds that they have much to teach us about the ways natural forces determine urban form.

, , ,
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 Candela Structures: Architecture as Storytelling

Kirsten Hively visits the Candela Structures, relics of the 1964/5 World’s Fair, and encourages us to investigate the stories behind our city’s forgotten structures and spaces.

, , , , ,
Floyd Bennett Field: Recreation in the Wasteland

FASLANYC visits Floyd Bennett Field and finds an example of park use that references the site’s unique history and demonstrates the changing nature of recreation.

, , , ,
Touring Roosevelt Island

Yesterday was a beautiful day for wandering along Roosevelt Island’s waterfront. The Omnibus team and fifty of our friends spent the afternoon learning about the history of the masterplan, seeing one of the infamous pneumatic trash chutes in action, and getting a guided tour of the Fast Trash!

Fast Trash!

Juliette Spertus discusses her exhibit – which combines infrastructure, New York history and alternative urban futures – about Roosevelt Island’s trash collection system.

, , , , ,
Design and the Urban Skatepark

Underneath a Manhattan-side artery of the Brooklyn Bridge is a pedestrian egress area linking streets Rose and Pearl. The area is of little consequence to most New Yorkers – it has neither a Wikipedia page nor a Google Maps marker – but for the small yet loyal skateboarding community it…

Vinegar Hill to the Pencil Factory

Yesterday I went down underneath the Manhattan Bridge to pick up my rejected manuscript from a publisher. Feeling a little blue, I shoved my hands in my pockets, kicked at the dirt like a ragamuffin, and walked all the way back to Greenpoint, sticking as close to the East River as

Atlantic Avenue Underground

Photo c. Leni Schwendinger.

Much has been written about the Atlantic Avenue tunnel since Bob Diamond rediscovered access through a manhole to the storied passageway in 1980. His investigations and contemporary efforts are superbly documented on the Brooklyn Historic Railway Association website. Diamond shares this…

Search