New City Critics

Temu’s Last Mile

The river of packages running through the city inscribes a hidden geography of resource-intensive e-commerce.

New City Critics

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.

Shelf Life

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?

The City in Our Hands

At the Black Zine Fair, now in its third year, the power of DIY publications as movement- and city-building technologies is on display.

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?