Policy
Designing Mamdani’s New York
At the start of a new mayoral administration promising an urban transformation, eight practitioners discuss architecture’s role in shaping the social democratic city.
Signs of Change
Posting the experiences of shelter residents and staff in the public realm, artist Alex Strada creates a walking meditation on the right to housing.
Medieval Times
The MTA’s latest military-inspired tactics to curb fare evasion may be fighting the wrong enemy.
Fighting Fire
In the 1970s, a wave of arson caused widespread damage to the Bronx and the tenants who called it home. What brought a decade of fire to an end?
The Future of Infrastructure and Place
What is the path forward to contend with historic and contemporary harms of urban highways across the country, and to honor the needs and desires of contemporary residents? Insights from a conversation on the Cross Bronx, the BQE, and the road to more just transportation infrastructures.
Can’t We Have Both?
A very short story debates two long-term visions for vital infrastructure in Queens.
Life Beyond Line Items
To get the city we deserve, New Yorkers must be active participants in its governance. What spaces and methods can help us build democratic muscle and demand moral budgets?
A Question About Tomorrow
As goes Ravenswood, so goes New York’s energy future. So what will it take to bring a just transition to the city’s largest power plant?
Meet the 2025-2026 New City Critics Fellows
New City Critics fellows will turn their critical gaze over the city.
The Invisible Arch
Public art proposals are a highly contested terrain. But the processes for the commissions themselves escape scrutiny.