new york city

subway-income distribution

When data is visualized, patterns emerge. The same can be said about the New Yorker’s Inequality and New York’s Subway interactive chart, which highlights inequality based on subway stops.[read more]

New York grid

I have spent the last few days looking up and considering the architectural impact of the New York City grid-plan layout, taking a particular interest in the domestic scale elements that help to service the city and punctuate the rigidity.[read more]

Gowanus Canal dolphin/Brandon Rosenblum

When a dolphin died under the glare of publicity, the polluted Gowanus Canal was suddenly a news story. Yet, the day before the dolphin arrived, the waters were just as polluted. And they remain so today.[read more]

urban art

New York urban street life has, over time, become increasingly supported by structured programs designed to enable artists to contribute to urban planning and placemaking.[read more]

affordable housing

The neighborhoods I like best have a mix of housing types, from studio apartments to 5-bedroom houses, offered at different price points. Some homes may be subsidized to be affordable.[read more]

renewing urban spaces

Can cities with decades, hundreds, or even thousands of years of history adapt to economic, population, and climate change? Can they renew themselves in the process?[read more]

Recently, Queens-based developer Cord Meyer selected a concept from Morali Architects which would include a series of 3000-square-foot gardens – each with its own urban farm – located within “cut-out” spaces every ten stories.[read more]

Urbanists have an understanding that cities offer not only more choices, but also greater opportunities. Creativity seems to be more abundant, as artists, musicians and creative types come together. Cities are an epicenter of diversity. And cities are also attracting the world’s top talent.[read more]

When the Central Park Conservancy was formed in 1980, the idea of a public-private partnership for parks that went beyond just fundraising was a radical notion; the idea, driven partly by New York City’s devastated financial condition and the park’s dramatic deterioration in the 1960s and 1970s, came at a ripe moment.[read more]

Booker Mitchell calls me shortly after he hops out of a cab on a busy Friday afternoon in New York City. He doesn’t always take a cab, but he had a lot to carry this afternoon leaving school. You see, Booker is not only a true city nomad and National Geographic Traveler‘s newly minted Traveler of the Year, he’s also a student in the 10th grade.[read more]

When their transportation systems failed after Superstorm Sandy, New Yorkers discovered that biking was the quickest way to get around. Should disaster-prone areas promote biking now?[read more]

In parts of Manhattan lucky enough to avoid flooding and power outages during Superstorm Sandy, things started getting back to normal Tuesday morning. Many businesses were open in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood in Upper Manhattan. Residents swept the streets, walked dogs and ventured out for a peek at the aftermath — or just to run...[read more]