Something Better Than Nothing
A half-century of experiments in private sector solutions to urban problems has brought mixed results and exacerbated inequality. How did we get here?
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Mobilizing Support
A harm reduction collective works to meet people who use drugs "where they're at," not just metaphorically, but geographically.
Ex Officio
The esthetics of the public sector workplace are mundane, comical, absurd, and constantly navigating the tensions of liberal democracy.
New Conversations: NYC +
Join us for a conversation with four exciting new publications on Wednesday, January 25.
Rockaway, Revisited
New projects are bringing more people and attention to the Rockaway Peninsula, but ten years after Hurricane Sandy, the work of building resilient infrastructure remains woefully incomplete.
Street Ballet Opera
An ambitious new opera plumbs the humanity and contemporary relevance of two mythic figures of New York City: Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses.
On the Up and Up
A joyful, accessible swing set promises a high-flying experience for people of many abilities. Can it also clear the bureaucratic hurdles that hamper exciting inclusive designs?
Teenage Dream
At the annual Anti-Prom, queer and trans teens refashion the New York Public Library’s marble-lioned flagship into a kinder, gentler world.
Extra Terrestrial
From Freshkills Park's photographer-in-residence, portraits of another world in formation
Another Green Appearance
Architectural adaptations create space for prayer for New York City's growing Muslim communities, transforming townhouses and apartments into more sacred precincts.
A Resilience Workshop
A long-term, community-based project brings critical knowledge about risks of contamination and engages local industries as partners in preparedness in the wake of Sandy. But extreme weather is not the only threat to vulnerable businesses.
Second Chances
Recent books explore the potential in underused and overdetermined spaces, from mid-century American city centers and suburban shopping malls to the current glut of vacant retail storefronts and offices.
Getting to Zero
Banned from residences for more than half a century, lead paint still poisons thousands of children a year in New York City. Who is responsible for ensuring healthy homes for all?
Concentrated Cleanup
Since 2009, New York City has been incentivizing private cleanup of contaminated sites. Who benefits?
Staying the Distance
For members of New York City's Arab diasporas, protesting oppression back home can provide both solace in community and an unsettling reminder of displacement.
Clinical Trials
A bygone experiment in community-focused mental healthcare — rooted in Harlem and the life experiences of its Black population — still holds valuable lessons for making “the good life,” and good feelings, truly accessible to all.
Story of a Street
A 1.3-mile-long pedestrian promenade in Queens is a lodestar for planners, a lifeline for many residents, and an albatross to others.
Alternate Routes
A new guidebook locates residents’ struggles to make and remake New York City in the image of their own needs and desires.
Introducing the Inaugural Cohort of New City Critics
Meet the 2022 fellows in a program to empower new and diverse voices to challenge the ways we understand, design, and develop our cities.
Arch-Conservative
Vito Battista’s journey from public architecture to right-wing politics is an echo of New York’s own cyclical, reactionary tides — and a reminder of how closely the city's politics are tied to the fate of its urban fabric.