new york city – mammoth // building nothing out of something

Tag Archives: new york city

February 27, 2011 – 2:23 pm

400 years of 124 Green Street

Go read this micro history of a block in New York City: We usually analyze Development at the national level. Why not other levels? At the other extreme, here is a short and surprising illustrated history of one city block [...] Its history had been a series of unexpected events involving many actors, from Nicholas [...]

By Stephen | Posted in asides, the-city-we-have, urbanism | Also tagged , | Comments (0)
February 11, 2011 – 12:58 pm

markets, constituencies, and infrastructure

I’ve been reading the blog Market Urbanism quite a lot recently. Writing recently about “the problem with “public” transportation” (and after noting the frequent use of ‘public transit’ where the broader ‘mass transit’ would be more appropriate), they argue: …although the [New York] Subway was heavily subsidized by the government, the truth is that it [...]

By Stephen | Posted in economics, infrastructure, urbanism | Also tagged , , , | Comments (3)
November 30, 2010 – 12:44 pm

silk moses

Esquire profiles Janette Sadik-Khan in their series The Brightest: 15 Geniuses Who Give Us Hope. Although it initially seems curiously focused on her personality instead of her accomplishments, the piece makes a convincing case that the two are inseparably linked, and as such, is a good example of the political and social acumen that designers [...]

By Stephen | Posted in asides, the-expanded-field, urbanism | Also tagged , , | Comments (0)
October 3, 2010 – 2:43 pm

“it just makes things different”

[Flushing Airport, one of New York City's "places humans let be", via Google Maps] Robert Sullivan’s recent article on the renaissance of urban ecology in New York City, The Concrete Jungle, is so outstanding that I’ve been sitting on it for two weeks, paralyzed by the plethora of great quotes I could pull from it. [...]

By rholmes | Posted in geography, landscape | Also tagged , , , | Comments (5)
March 2, 2010 – 11:18 pm

from bogota to nyc

Fast Company author Cliff Kuang writes about New York City’s adoption of rapid-bus transit solutions developed in Brazil and Columbia: Urban planners, rejoice! Today, the New York City Department of Transit announced a radical new plan for improving the city’s bus lines: A fully dedicated express-lane for buses, running crosstown on 34th Street. It’s expected [...]

By Stephen | Posted in asides, urbanism | Also tagged , , | Comments (8)