TOPIC

Public Space

New City Critics

Desire Paths

During a three-month experiment, a critic forgoes algorithmically determined pathways through the city by courting and cataloging her chance encounters with strangers.

New City Critics

Pothole Chic

Civic leaders have long expressed their allegiances and courted public trust through sartorial choices. Can the current mayor’s OSHA-compliant uniform inspire a new guard of civic engagement?

Shelf Life

Locations, Locations, Locations

Location scouts have shaped representations of New York for decades. Now, changes to the film industry and the built environment both threaten a carefully cultivated way of seeing.

The Null Hypothesis

It’s easy to be a visionary when the alternative is an ash heap. A casino megaproject promised for Queens reveals the persistent failures of imagination driving “development” and its discontents.

New City Critics

Call for Applications: New City Critics 2026

Dancing About Architecture

How have dancers and their movements shaped the built environment of New York — and how has the city shaped them in return?

New City Critics

A Labor of Love

Up a marble staircase, in the attic of City Hall, a trio of civil servants steward an eclectic archive of city objects.

New City Critics

The Plaza Paradox

In the shadow of the Flatiron, a writer spends an hour conducting her own public space audit.

The Artist Is Present

What happens when artists embed within city government? For ten years, New York’s Public Artists in Residence have been building bridges and breaking down walls between the civic and the public.

City Habitats

Nooks and Crannies

Local birds evicted from their usual habitats find themselves nesting and hunting atop skyscrapers, power lines, and traffic lights.