TOPIC

Public Space

Turning the Tide

Where can queer and trans community flourish, if not at Riis Beach? Yet current plans for its future don't account for the people it has sustained for decades.

Rockaway, Revisited

New projects are bringing more people and attention to the Rockaway Peninsula, but ten years after Hurricane Sandy, the work of building resilient infrastructure remains woefully incomplete.

Street Ballet Opera

An ambitious new opera plumbs the humanity and contemporary relevance of two mythic figures of New York City: Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses.

Circulation Desk

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.

Well-Placed

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.

Story of a Street

A 1.3-mile-long pedestrian promenade in Queens is a lodestar for planners, a lifeline for many residents, and an albatross to others.

New City Critics

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.

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.

Care, Where?

Public space may be essential to urban life, but its benefits are far from universally enjoyed. Could a municipal Department of Care bring context-sensitive design and services to every corner of the city?