We are celebrating 15 years — and counting — of stories that are deeply researched and deeply felt, that build a historical record of what the city has been.

 
 
The Power Issue

The Power Issue

A newspaper from the future imagines how New Yorkers defeat fascism, defend public power, electrify everything, and protect each other from flooding.

Noah Fischer

Home Valuation

New stories from Mitchell-Lama co-ops and the LA Tenants Union narrate the housing crisis as a struggle for control, and over the true meaning of a home.

Tracy Rosenthal and Jonathan Tarleton
Romantic Urbanism

Finding Love in a Hopeless Place

An invitation to think and make cities through the lens of love and care

Daphne Lundi and Louise Yeung
Perhaps a Lot of Our Future Is Behind Us

Perhaps a Lot of Our Future Is Behind Us

The interests of the powerful dominate our collective imagination; a visionary thinker prompts us to imagine justice in the here and now, with the tools we already have.

Ruha Benjamin
Romantic Urbanism

A Moon for My Neighbors

In neighborhood life, as in the romantic comedy classic, Moonstruck, romance thrives within a loose network of daily tenderness.

Jess Myers
Romantic Urbanism

Love and Longing in Paratransit

The largest transportation system in the country for people with disabilities, New York City's unreliable Access-A-Ride also brings unexpected social connections.

Claudia Mallea
A children’s play area in the six-story Edenwald Houses complex with overcladding in light and dark gray. The 14-story brick Baychester Houses can be seen in the distance across the street.

Renovated facades provide a window into existential questions for the future of New York City’s public housing.

More Than Skin Deep • Lizzie MacWillie

Object Lessons

Three New City Critics explore the larger cultural significance of urban artifacts, images, and objects.

New City Critics
Feral Monument

Beloved for their innocence and feared as vectors of disease, pigeons are a divisive and constant presence in New York City. A monumental statue atop the High Line urges us to consider how our feral friends (or foes) are in fact just like us.

Ellie Botoman • Mar 06, 2025
New City Critics
Main Character Energy

Since the 1970s, citrus-hued seats in L-shaped arrangements have offered commuters a warm embrace. Where will subway riders find romance when the Tang-toned seats go?

Daphne Lundi • Mar 06, 2025
New City Critics
The Real Counterfeit

A 15-story stack of Louis Vuitton branded suitcases claiming to be scaffolding landed on Fifth Avenue in November. But reading the structure through the lens of the building code raises questions about our grasp on reality and the rule of law.

Philip Poon • Mar 06, 2025
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