As Diatre Padilla explains, getting around in the city and getting ahead in life are inextricably linked—especially in the Southeast Bronx, where the Bruckner Expressway casts a long shadow.

In our third of a series of profiles of Naturally Occurring Cultural Districts around the five boroughs, Joey de Jesus takes us on a tour of Hunts Point, Bronx, to explore how artists, activists, and educators have turned social and environmental challenges into opportunities.

Jim Lau shares the landscape architecture work of the New York State Department of Transportation, including a skatepark under the BQE, a waterfront park in Inwood, and an extensive greenway along the Bronx River.

Into an atmosphere of Moses disfavor and a nascent, outspoken preservation movement entered modernist Paul Rudolph. It is through his drawings that the Lower Manhattan Expressway has come to life. An exhibit at Cooper Union, organized by the Drawing Center, provides a much-needed reminder of Rudolph’s breadth of vision for Lower Manhattan.