Landscape
The Human Harbor
Birds, fish, and marine mammals dodge traffic, hitch rides, and make the most of unlikely opportunities in the city’s many waterways.
Meet the 2026–2027 New City Critics Fellows
New City Critics fellows will turn their critical gaze over the city.
What Water Wants
The low-lying Jewel Streets neighborhood, once coastal marshlands now cut off from the waterfront, is prone to extreme flooding. What happens if planners and advocates learn to go with the flow?
Desire Paths
During a three-month experiment, a critic forgoes algorithmically determined pathways through the city by courting and cataloging her chance encounters with strangers.
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.
The Null Hypothesis
It’s easy to be a visionary when the alternative is an ash heap. A casino megaproject promised for Queens reveals the persistent failures of imagination driving “development” and its discontents.
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.