Policy
A Resilience Workshop
A long-term, community-based project brings critical knowledge about risks of contamination and engages local industries as partners in preparedness in the wake of Sandy. But extreme weather is not the only threat to vulnerable businesses.
Getting to Zero
Banned from residences for more than half a century, lead paint still poisons thousands of children a year in New York City. Who is responsible for ensuring healthy homes for all?
Concentrated Cleanup
Since 2009, New York City has been incentivizing private cleanup of contaminated sites. Who benefits?
Staying the Distance
For members of New York City's Arab diasporas, protesting oppression back home can provide both solace in community and an unsettling reminder of displacement.
Clinical Trials
A bygone experiment in community-focused mental healthcare — rooted in Harlem and the life experiences of its Black population — still holds valuable lessons for making “the good life,” and good feelings, truly accessible to all.
Introducing the Inaugural Cohort of New City Critics
Meet the 2022 fellows in a program to empower new and diverse voices to challenge the ways we understand, design, and develop our cities.
Arch-Conservative
Vito Battista’s journey from public architecture to right-wing politics is an echo of New York’s own cyclical, reactionary tides — and a reminder of how closely the city's politics are tied to the fate of its urban fabric.
Tall Order
LinkNYC failed to deliver on its promise of “bridging the digital divide.” Now, the streetside Wi-Fi kiosks are about to be souped up and supersized as 5G-transmitting towers. But is there any guarantee that New York’s under-resourced populations won’t get left behind, again?
The Civic Canopy
New York City's street trees help cool pavement, filter air, buffer against storms, and improve moods. The arborists of NYC Parks are working to distribute those benefits as widely as possible.
Beyond Diverse
A pedestrian plaza in Queens is widely celebrated for its worldliness. But beneath a colorful surface are more radical lessons in coexistence.