Architecture And Design

NYC unveils latest sidewalk shed designs

Photos by Patrick Sullivan

November 3, 2026

NYC unveils latest sidewalk shed designs

By Aaron Ginsburg

A new generation of sidewalk sheds has debuted in New York City, ushering in a less unsightly way to protect pedestrians from falling debris. Two innovative scaffolding structures designed by Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) are now on view outside the city’s Department of Buildings headquarters at 280 Broadway in Lower Manhattan. The designs were first revealed last month, when Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced that the city had reduced the number of active sidewalk sheds across the five boroughs by roughly 1,200 since January, a 15 percent decline.
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Times Square supertall with free-fall ride will be anchored by Hyatt’s StandardX hotel

Rendering credit: Extell Development Company

October 29, 2026

Times Square supertall with free-fall ride will be anchored by Hyatt’s StandardX hotel

By Devin Gannon

The Times Square supertall with a free-fall amusement ride and an outdoor observation deck will be anchored by a Hyatt-branded hotel. Extell Development Company and Hyatt Hotels Corporation on Wednesday announced plans to bring The StandardX, a "streamlined" version of The Standard brand, to 255 West 45th Street as part of the Torch, a 1,800-room hotel and entertainment destination currently under construction. Designed by ODA, with SLCE as the architect of record, the 1,067-foot-tall development is expected to be completed in the second half of 2028.
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South Bronx public housing tower is now home to the tallest mural in the U.S.

Photos courtesy of Tameek Williams for Public Housing Community Fund

October 28, 2026

South Bronx public housing tower is now home to the tallest mural in the U.S.

By Aaron Ginsburg

The tallest mural in the United States can now be found on a public housing tower in the South Bronx. Designed by artist Nestor Omar Garcia, also known as Angurria, in collaboration with Bronx native Fernando Ortiz, “Un MAR de Gente/From Every Shore” stretches more than 307 feet along the southwest-facing facade of NYCHA’s 29-story Morrisania Air Rights (MAR) development. The mural depicts MAR community members across generations, celebrating the residents and the neighborhood's cultural legacy.
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Architecture And Design

Plaza Hotel to close for a four-year exterior restoration

Photo via Pixabay

October 15, 2026

Plaza Hotel to close for a four-year exterior restoration

By Michelle Cohen

The facade of the iconic Plaza Hotel at 1 Central Park South will be getting a thorough revamp, according to its operators, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts. The work will require that the hotel be shut down for four years, as the New York Times reported. The 119-year-old landmark will shutter in January, including the hotel’s event spaces and the Palm Court restaurant; it is not yet clear whether residents of the building's 181 condominiums will have to relocate.
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$17.8M renovation will turn historic Cobble Hill firehouse into music school

Renderings courtesy of MBB Architects

October 8, 2026

$17.8M renovation will turn historic Cobble Hill firehouse into music school

By Aaron Ginsburg

A long-vacant Cobble Hill firehouse will get new life as a permanent home for a music school. Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday announced the start of a $17.8 million transformation of the former Engine Company 204 firehouse at 299 Degraw Street, which has sat empty since 2003 due to budget cuts. The project will convert the building into a new home for the Noel Pointer Foundation (NPF), a music school dedicated to expanding music education for youth in historically underserved neighborhoods.
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Architecture And Design

Archtober 2026: 9 must-see architecture tours in and around NYC

October 5, 2026

Archtober 2026: 9 must-see architecture tours in and around NYC

The annual Archtober Festival officially kicked off this month as a celebration of architecture and design in one of the most architecturally significant cities in the world: New York. The monthlong program, put on by AIA New York (AIANY) and the Center for Architecture, with partners and sponsors, hosts a variety of events and tours across the city and the greater New York City region to encourage the exploration and appreciation of architecture and how it intersects with our lives.
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New Brownsville community center has green roofs and large-scale public artwork

Images courtesy of NYC Mayor’s Office

October 2, 2026

New Brownsville community center has green roofs and large-scale public artwork

By Aaron Ginsburg

A new $128 million community center in Brownsville has been completed two years ahead of schedule and $10 million under budget. Unveiled Monday at 444 Thomas S. Boyland Street, the new Brownsville Multi-Service Center is a four-story, all-electric facility with 10 office spaces, flexible conference rooms, a community garden, green roofs, and other spaces designed to serve community-based organizations and Brooklyn Community Board 16. Adorning the building is “I Am Protected,” a four-part, large-scale public art installation by East New York-native artist Jazmine Hayes.
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Architecture And Design

A long-promised waterfront park in Greenpoint is finally taking shape

Images courtesy of the NYC Mayor’s Office

October 1, 2026

A long-promised waterfront park in Greenpoint is finally taking shape

By Aaron Ginsburg

A former parking lot in Greenpoint will become a public green space, fulfilling a promise made by the city 20 years ago to transform the underutilized waterfront site. Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Thursday announced the start of work on Box Street Park, delivering on a commitment made as part of the 2005 Williamsburg-Greenpoint waterfront upzoning to address a shortage of public green space in the neighborhood. Slated for completion by the end of summer 2028, the $40 million project will transform the former MTA facility into a 2.5-acre public park with new plantings, recreational amenities, and open space.
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Architecture And Design

$1B reconstruction of Coney Island boardwalk moves forward

Credit: Marc A. Hermann / MTA on Flickr

October 1, 2026

$1B reconstruction of Coney Island boardwalk moves forward

By Aaron Ginsburg

New York City is seeking a design team to lead the $1 billion reconstruction of Coney Island’s iconic Riegelmann Boardwalk. The city’s Economic Development Corporation and Department of Parks on Wednesday released a request for qualifications (RFQ) seeking a “progressive design-build team” to oversee the full reconstruction of the landmarked boardwalk, a project first announced in December. The project will reconstruct the 2.7-mile boardwalk, replace utilities and structural piles, and elevate portions of it.
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Battery Bikeway reopens with completion of $221M flood-resiliency project

Photos courtesy of BPCA

September 29, 2026

Battery Bikeway reopens with completion of $221M flood-resiliency project

By Aaron Ginsburg

A restored bikeway has reopened in Manhattan’s South Battery Park City, marking the completion of a transformative project that has turned the area into a buffer against rising sea levels and flooding. Unveiled last week, the Battery Bikeway offers cyclists a dedicated pathway with scenic views of New York Harbor as it winds along the borough’s southern tip. The bike path is the final component of the South Battery Park City Resiliency Project (SBPCR), the city’s multi-year effort to prepare Manhattan’s southern edge for rising sea levels and severe storms by elevating the waterfront, improving stormwater management, and more.
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Proposed nine-story building next to Merchant’s House Museum returns to Landmarks

All images courtesy of the NYC LPC unless noted otherwise

September 29, 2026

Proposed nine-story building next to Merchant’s House Museum returns to Landmarks

By Aaron Ginsburg

A proposal to demolish and replace a parking garage next to Noho’s landmarked Merchant’s House Museum returned to the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission on Tuesday, after the previous hearing ended inconclusively following hours of public testimony. Proposed by Kalodop II Park Corp. at 27 East 4th Street, the project would erect a nine-story mixed-use building adjacent to the 1832 house museum, which preservationists and museum officials say could threaten the historic structure during construction. Since the engineering review for the proposal is incomplete, the LPC will vote at a future public meeting.
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New subway photo exhibition reveals the behind-the-scenes work that keeps NYC moving

Photo captured at the MTA’s 207th Street Overhaul Shop; Client: New York Times. © Christopher Payne. Commissioned by MTA Arts & Design for the exhibition “In Service: MTA Photographs by Christopher Payne.”

September 23, 2026

New subway photo exhibition reveals the behind-the-scenes work that keeps NYC moving

By Aaron Ginsburg

A new photography series in the New York City subway system seeks to illuminate the workers and infrastructure that keep New Yorkers moving behind the scenes. Unveiled Tuesday by MTA Arts & Design, "In Service: MTA Photographs by Christopher Payne" features images shot at 13 MTA facilities and manufacturing plants across four states, revealing the work and coordination required to keep the city's transit system running. The series of 50 photographs is displayed on 52 decommissioned advertising lightboxes at five major transit hubs, marking the first time the agency has presented a single photographer's work across its entire network.
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See the final vision for Park Avenue’s green redesign

Bosque median at 50th Street. All renderings courtesy of Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects and Planners

September 18, 2026

See the final vision for Park Avenue’s green redesign

By Devin Gannon

Plans to reimagine Park Avenue as a green oasis in the heart of Manhattan are moving forward. The city's Department of Transportation this week released the final design concept for the 11-block stretch of the corridor, which intends to bring the "park back to Park Avenue" by widening the traffic medians and adding greenery and seating. After gathering feedback from the public this spring, the city, along with Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects and Planners, the team leading the design, updated the concept to move the originally proposed two-way bike lane along the median into dedicated space, leaving enough room for both cyclists and pedestrians.
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Renovation of Downtown Brooklyn’s Pacific Library restores skylight, adds solarium

Renderings courtesy of Safdie Architects

September 17, 2026

Renovation of Downtown Brooklyn’s Pacific Library restores skylight, adds solarium

By Aaron Ginsburg

Here is a look at the redesign of Downtown Brooklyn's Pacific Library, the borough’s first public library financed by philanthropist and business magnate Andrew Carnegie. Safdie Architects on Thursday released images of its restoration of the 120-year-old branch at 25 4th Avenue and Pacific Street, which will restore the building’s original conical roof and skylight, expand the interior, add outdoor gardens, and build a two-story solarium. The project is part of the Brooklyn Public Library’s broader effort to restore its Carnegie branches, a network of 67 branches across the city’s three public library systems built at the turn of the 20th century.
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Architecture And Design

Hudson Square gets a colorful pedestrian plaza

Photos courtesy of Hudson Square BID

September 17, 2026

Hudson Square gets a colorful pedestrian plaza

By Aaron Ginsburg

A new pedestrian plaza officially opened in Hudson Square last week, adding 6,500 square feet of car-free space to the Manhattan neighborhood. Painted with a rainbow mural, the colorful plaza runs between Little Sixth and Dominick Street and expands the adjacent Spring Street Park. The roadway features seating, tables, free WiFi, and space for community programming. Designed by Hudson Square Business Improvement District with the city's Department of Transportation, the plaza was funded through a $744,000 NY Forward state grant awarded in 2024.
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Architecture And Design

The Met breaks ground on Frida Escobedo’s new wing for modern and contemporary art

Photo credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

September 16, 2026

The Met breaks ground on Frida Escobedo’s new wing for modern and contemporary art

By Devin Gannon

The biggest project in a $1.5 billion transformation of the country's most visited museum officially kicked off this week. The Metropolitan Museum of Art on Tuesday celebrated the groundbreaking of a new five-story wing dedicated to contemporary and modern art, designed by Mexico City-based architect Frida Escobedo. As one piece of an ongoing revamp of the Upper East Side museum, the Oscar L. Tang and H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang Wing will increase gallery space by 50 percent, add new outdoor space with views of Central Park, and create better connections to the rest of the museum.
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Architecture And Design

23-foot Earth sculpture to hang inside Cathedral of St. John the Divine

“Gaia” at Tewkesbury Abbey, UK, 2024. Photo © Jack Boskett Media Ltd.

September 14, 2026

23-foot Earth sculpture to hang inside Cathedral of St. John the Divine

By Aaron Ginsburg

A massive, detailed sculpture of the Earth will hang inside Morningside Heights’ grand Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine. Created by UK artist Luke Jerram, "Gaia" measures 23 feet in diameter and features NASA imagery of the planet’s surface as it slowly rotates in the cathedral’s nave, offering a three-dimensional view of Earth floating in space. Installed to mark the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi, the sculpture will be celebrated with a special opening reception on Friday, September 18, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
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Tom Fruin’s iconic water tower sculpture in Brooklyn Bridge Park to be restored

Photos by Matthew Pugliese

September 4, 2026

Tom Fruin’s iconic water tower sculpture in Brooklyn Bridge Park to be restored

By Aaron Ginsburg

The colorful water tower sculpture in Brooklyn Bridge Park has been removed. But don't worry, it will return next year. Designed by Tom Fruin and installed 12 years ago, the Plexiglas and steel artwork on top of the park's administrative building at 334 Furman Street was dismantled and taken down on Tuesday ahead of a renovation of the building. Like the building, the sculpture, which honors NYC's water towers, will also be restored, as first reported by the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. "Watertower 3: R.V. Ingersoll" will be repaired and rehabilitated after more than a decade of exposure to sun, snow, and rain and reinstalled in the fall of 2027.
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Architecture And Design

New memorial honors Port Authority workers killed in attacks on World Trade Center

Credit: Port Authority on Flickr

August 31, 2026

New memorial honors Port Authority workers killed in attacks on World Trade Center

By Aaron Ginsburg

A new memorial honors the Port Authority employees who perished in the 1993 and 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the World Trade Center Memorial Fund on Friday unveiled the memorial, an 8-foot-tall stainless steel model of the Twin Towers fronted by an American flag, with the employees' names inscribed on its two-foot-tall granite base. Located next to St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine in Liberty Park, the memorial offers a quiet space of remembrance for those who lost their lives in the attacks.
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Architecture And Design

NYC expands free rooftop tours at historic Manhattan Municipal Building

Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office on Flickr

August 28, 2026

NYC expands free rooftop tours at historic Manhattan Municipal Building

By Aaron Ginsburg

Larger groups are now permitted to attend the city's free tours of the historic David N. Dinkins Manhattan Municipal Building following growing demand. Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) Commissioner Yume Kitasei on Friday announced expanded access to “Centre 360,” a panoramic experience inside the Beaux-Arts government building's 36th-floor cupola, increasing the maximum group size from five to eight. The move comes just months after the tours launched in June following a $6 million renovation, with reservations for the experience selling out in less than two minutes.
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$36M renovation of historic Eastern Parkway Library breaks ground

All images courtesy of NYC Mayor’s Office unless noted otherwise

August 28, 2026

$36M renovation of historic Eastern Parkway Library breaks ground

By Aaron Ginsburg

Work has begun on the $36 million transformation of Crown Heights' historic Eastern Parkway Library. Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Thursday announced the start of the project, which will expand public space at the century-old Brooklyn Public Library branch at 1044 Eastern Parkway by more than 50 percent while preserving its historic architecture. Led by the city's Department of Design and Construction, the project is expected to be completed in summer 2028.
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Architecture And Design

Noho parking lot to become 200 apartments after Landmarks approves revised design

All images courtesy of SOM

August 18, 2026

Noho parking lot to become 200 apartments after Landmarks approves revised design

By Aaron Ginsburg

A corner parking lot in Noho will become a pair of apartment buildings with over 200 apartments after the Landmarks Preservation Commission on Tuesday approved the project. Developed by Minskoff Equities and designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), the development includes two high-rise rental buildings, with up to 210 homes, including up to 65 affordable units, on a vacant lot at 375 Lafayette Street. First presented in March, the team's revised design addresses previous concerns over the scale, prominent facade exposures, and other details the commission felt were out of place in the historic neighborhood.
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Studio Gang, Sauerbruch Hutton to redesign German consulate in NYC

Skyline view from the river. © sauerbruch hutton

August 17, 2026

Studio Gang, Sauerbruch Hutton to redesign German consulate in NYC

By Aaron Ginsburg

Architecture firms Studio Gang and Sauerbruch Hutton have been tapped to redesign German House, home to Germany’s consulate in New York City. Selected as the winner of an international design competition, the firms will "radically transform" the building’s facade, enhance its environmental performance, and reinforce the tower’s status as a civic landmark. Sauerbruch Hutton will serve as the lead architect, with Studio Gang as the architect of record, on the 23-story government building at 871-873 First Avenue.
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Architecture And Design

Did you know the country’s only floating pool is in the Bronx?

All photos by Danny Avila for NYC Parks

August 7, 2026

Did you know the country’s only floating pool is in the Bronx?

By Nicole Mondrus

Although it's technically safe, you may not want to swim in the East River. Swimming on the East River, however, is an entirely different story. The Floating Pool Lady is not just a pool. It’s a floating pool within a retrofitted barge that’s currently docked at Barretto Point Park in the Hunts Point neighborhood of the Bronx. Best of all, it's the only floating pool in the country.
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Architecture And Design

SOM to lead $200M redevelopment of 460 Park Avenue

Renderings credit: VMI

July 28, 2026

SOM to lead $200M redevelopment of 460 Park Avenue

By Aaron Ginsburg

An aging Park Avenue office building will undergo a $200 million renovation to turn the property into a state-of-the-art modern workplace. The Korea International Trade Association (KITA) on Monday began the redevelopment of 460 Park Avenue, which involves stripping the mid-20th-century structure down to its steel frame before rebuilding it with cutting-edge infrastructure and 350,000 square feet of premier office space. Led by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), the project will include a new lobby, modern elevators, and a floor-to-ceiling glass facade, with completion scheduled for the second quarter of 2028.
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