Planning the Unplanned

Urban planner Daniel Campo and public artist Dylan Gauthier revisit the Williamsburg waterfront, once an informal playground on abandoned land appropriated by residents, and discuss how unplanned open spaces can create potential for adventure and discovery.

Bed-Stuy In Memoriam

Kristian Sanford contemplates the subjects and gradual decay of memorial murals in Bed-Stuy and considers how time simultaneously erodes and enhances these very personal but highly public artworks.

Mandala Roundabout: Walking Columbus Circle with Karen Finley

Performance artist Karen Finley actively reimagines Columbus Circle through the conceptual and geometric elements of the mandala.

Living Los Sures, Past and Present

UnionDocs' Christopher Allen and Aris Dilone and Los Sures' Ramon Peguero discuss a four-year documentary project capturing Williamsburg's Southside that demonstrates how creative documentation of place can complement the work of community-based organizations.

Black Radical Weeksville

Jonathan Tarleton explores how the Weeksville Heritage Center is leveraging Crown Heights’ and Bed-Stuy’s storied pasts, local assets, and arts and culture to catalyze a community in the midst of shifting neighborhood dynamics.

Urban Omnibus Writing Competition: Common Shares

A Shared Life

Presenting the second of two runners-up in our Common Shares writing competition: Yen Ha brings us the story of a pair of strangers navigating the extremes of the sharing economy.

Under Annihilation’s Sign: Public Memory and Prospect Park’s Battle Pass

On the 238th anniversary of the Battle of Brooklyn, Ben Nadler and Oksana Mironova delve into the ways its history is embedded in Prospect Park and explore different notions of how we memorialize tragedy.