Policy
Uber 911
With the exorbitant costs of healthcare, untrained rideshare drivers are increasingly forced to take on the role of emergency medical professionals.
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?
The Planks of Theseus
New York City generates more than 2 million tons of construction and demolition debris every year. An age-old parable suggests that waste is in the eye of the beholder.
Temu’s Last Mile
The river of packages running through the city inscribes a hidden geography of resource-intensive e-commerce.
Pothole Chic
Civic leaders have long expressed their allegiances and courted public trust through sartorial choices. Can the current mayor’s OSHA-compliant uniform inspire a new guard of civic engagement?
Locations, Locations, Locations
Location scouts have shaped representations of New York for decades. Now, changes to the film industry and the built environment both threaten a carefully cultivated way of seeing.
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.
Keep the Change
Landmarking has long been one of the few tools available to preserve a building. Can historic preservation adapt to protect affordability and utility alongside cornices and columns?
Dancing About Architecture
How have dancers and their movements shaped the built environment of New York — and how has the city shaped them in return?