Environment
Tide and Current
Over more than 20 years, an artist ferrying passengers through New York’s waterways in small boats has shared a unique vantage on an always-changing island city.
Infrastructure Enclaves
In a dense city, borders and barriers made of steel, concrete, and asphalt can create unexpected pockets of protection for habitat-starved plants and animals.
Waste Watering Holes
Bird watching at an unlikely urban oasis: the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant
Three Ways to Reclaim Wood
Brooklyn-based studio Tri-Lox intervenes on the city’s waste stream, repurposing wood to furnish everything from Shake Shack interiors to Shakespeare in the Park.
Nooks and Crannies
Local birds evicted from their usual habitats find themselves nesting and hunting atop skyscrapers, power lines, and traffic lights.
Safer Spaces
With the new mayor promising to deliver “community safety,” one well-established city program charts a path through new public spaces and long-needed repairs at the city’s most under-resourced NYCHA developments.
Heat Islands
While hibernation and migration are the norm, some animals stay in the city for winter, seeking out opportunities in the heat we generate.
What Goes Around
A high-volume transfer station, a model municipal soil bank, and a cutting-edge soil washer: Three area sites illustrate the values, costs, and benefits that shape the flow of recycled soil in and around the city.
The Reefs Beneath the Piers
Where maritime industry once thrived, and where a tunnel was thwarted, New York’s submarine species make homes in the shadow of waterfront development.