TOPIC

Parks

Freshkills: Reorientation

Our inaugural Urban Wild Writer in Residence reports from the four mounds of the future Freshkills Park.

Underexposed

Underexposed | 12

In the middle of a paved Midtown park, tunnel air whirs through 46 huge fans.

The Location of Justice: Systems

The Happy Prison

Where do the street trees come from, and where does the compost go? Rikers Island was the city’s growing outpost for years. But does “greening” the prison always improve things for prisoners?

Underexposed

Underexposed | 11

In West Harlem, a wastewater treatment plants hides beneath a 28-acre state park.

Shelf Life

Cataloging Comfort

A recently uncovered album reveals some of New York City parks' least exposed precincts — their public bathrooms.

Intersections: Behind Closed Doors

Off the Beaten Path

For WXY and New York State Parks, designing comfort stations to accommodate more than 60 million annual visitors — representing many different genders, backgrounds, and accessibility needs — is no simple task.

Capturing Change

Nesting Season

Photographers focus on the grasslands that cap the former Fresh Kills landfill and provide new homes for threatened wildlife.

Call for Proposals: Urban Wild Writer Residency

We seek a writer to explore and interpret the contemporary urban landscape where highways meet gas wells, herons, and kayakers.

Capturing Change

Leachate and Landscape

Photographers explore the infrastructural underpinnings of Freshkills Park.

Capturing Change

The Golden Hour

A photo essay documenting what will become Freshkills's East Park shows that new life can emerge from the most toxic environments.