New City Critics

The Real Counterfeit

A 15-story stack of Louis Vuitton branded suitcases claiming to be scaffolding landed on Fifth Avenue in November. But reading the structure through the lens of the building code raises questions about our grasp on reality and the rule of law.

Romantic Urbanism

Finding Love in a Hopeless Place

An invitation to think and make cities through the lens of love and care

More Than Skin Deep

Renovated facades provide a window into existential questions for the future of New York City’s public housing.

Who Plans?

Over more than two decades, Hester Street expanded means and methods by which New Yorkers might shape their city. What does the nonprofit's demise mean for the practices of community planning and engagement in the future?

Perhaps a Lot of Our Future Is Behind Us

The interests of the powerful dominate our collective imagination; a visionary thinker prompts us to imagine justice in the here and now, with the tools we already have.

On the City Stage

A modest, mid-block midtown building repurposed as a municipal arts center, City Center represented a monumental effort to support a program of arts for all. But how much can a building achieve?

Circulation Desk

What Colors Are the Crabgrass?

New books chronicle US suburbs' divergence from their mythical origin scenes of verdant lawns and white picket fences — and detail how social struggles have always been part of their story.

The Green Shift

Two High School Activists

With school buildings ill-equipped to face the climate crisis, students advocate for retrofits and greener, healthier buildings.