TOPIC
Retail
God's Garage
It's complicated inside New York City's 99 cent stores, where creativity and exploitation coexist.
Second Chances
Recent books explore the potential in underused and overdetermined spaces, from mid-century American city centers and suburban shopping malls to the current glut of vacant retail storefronts and offices.
Beyond Diverse
A pedestrian plaza in Queens is widely celebrated for its worldliness. But beneath a colorful surface are more radical lessons in coexistence.
Market Share
Designed for other uses and users, Corona Plaza has become a critical infrastructure for streetside selling. In the face of economic and legal pressures, vendors are organizing themselves and the space to ensure both individual survival and collective prosperity.
This Is What We're Seeing, This Is What We're Not Seeing
Mark Dicus of the SoHo Broadway Initiative reflects on the ups and down of a tumultuous year along one of New York City's most heavily-trafficked pedestrian corridors.
Cornerstone Memories
Justo Martí's midcentury photographs of Manhattan and Brooklyn bodegas provide a rare glimpse at the history of the spaces and signs cementing Latinx life in the city, and highlight the continuing work of New Yorkers to make the city home.
Ship Shape
The on-demand economy demands a lot from New York City’s streets. How might logistics better integrate with the city’s sidewalk ballet?
Connecting at the Counter
More than a convenience store, the humble bodega is a deeply networked site where neighborhood life intersects with larger scales of social, cultural and economic exchange — and a growing digital presence.