"Plan To Rebuild Penn Station" by Atelier & Co.

There's a nice recap on Gothamist on the "Plan To Rebuild Penn Station" by Richard Cameron, the principle designer at Atelier & Co.

A chalk pastel conceptual drawing of a rebuilt Penn Station by Richard Cameron, Atelier & Company. Image c/o http://www.rebuildpennstation.org/master-plan.html

Image c/o http://www.rebuildpennstation.org/

Key to Improving Subway Service in New York? Modern Signals

The unpopular birth of the Jamaica Avenue ‘EL’

Great article about the evolution of rapid transit in Queens, NY during the "Dual Contracts" era. Thanks to Chris R16/R2730 for posting this article on Subchat.com.

(Top) The EL train being built in March, 1916 at Forest Parkway and Jamaica Avenue. (Bottom) The wide open skies of Forest Parkway and Jamaica Avenue before the EL Train was built. The building at right still stands at that location. Courtesy of  The Woodhaven Cultural and Historical Society and Times Newsweekly.

The unpopular birth of the Jamaica Avenue ‘EL’

"Those in favor of the elevated line were not against the counterproposal of a subway, but felt the need for better transit was too great to pass up on the BRT’s offer. “Why this agitation for a subway along Jamaica Avenue and against an elevated extension over the same route? Surely the residents of this section cannot hope for the former, whereas there is a possibility of securing the latter in a short time, thereby affording a much-needed relief in our transit facilities,” one supporter of the BRT proposal said."

The City, the Suburbs, and Affordable Housing

Capital New York put out a great article about 'expert' opinions on Mayor de Blasio's affordable housing plans.

"And so he's calling for the creation of 80,000 affordable units and 160,000 market-rate ones, or 24,000 units a year over ten years. He also hopes to preserve another 120,000 units of affordable housing."

But the article cites critics who say that his focus is too limited to the city proper.

The Big Apple Moving Up the Charts

The Economist magazine's Intelligence Unit (EIU) ranked the world's fifty major cities by their crime rate. And New York City made it into the top ten as reported by the Mother Nature Network.

Perhaps the biggest surprise, to some, is New York City’s rank on the EIU index. The Big Apple sits in the 10th spot.

Five Borough Ferries Speeding to 1st Avenue

Mayor de Blasio announced that he'd like to expand ferry service throughout the five boroughs.


But one long forgotten plan could have made this ferry plan really work.

A Tale Worthy of Kafka: New York City's Affordable Housing Lottery

This is a different Tale of Two Cities. Not the metaphorical one used by Mario Cuomo and Bill de Blasio to describe the gap between the rich and the poor. This is a story about how New York City's poor can be divided into two groups: Winners and Losers.

With Friends Like These, Who Needs Enemies

Off all the allegations of wrongdoing laid upon current New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, there may be one—perfectly legal act—that the New York Daily News considers his greatest betrayal of his constituents' trust.

In 1999, he committed a dastardly crime against the 8 million people who live in the five boroughs — and they are still suffering the consequence.

Reurbanization May Change Our Long-held Preconceptions about Safety

Link: Reurbanization May Change Our Long-held Preconceptions about Safety

A generation of movies have made us think that the American city is an inherently dangerous place. But a new study shows that you’re more likely to die violently in the quiet countryside

Has America Already Hit “Peak Car”?

Link: Has America Already Hit “Peak Car”?

"In 1901, there were 10,000 motor vehicles in the United States.

It took five years to multiply that number by 10. The next 10-fold increase took seven years, reaching one million vehicles by 1913. Just eight years later, it was 10 million.

From there, it took 47 years to get to the next milestone: America became a 100 million-car nation in 1968. Automobiles were everywhere…” READ MORE

XKCD webcomic shows how thick ice was over North-American cities 21,000 years ago

Link: XKCD webcomic shows how thick ice was over North-American cities 21,000 years ago

As you can see above, Chicago was relatively spared with only 900 meters of ice (0.55 miles), but Montréal was deep under 3,300 meters (2.05 miles) of ice.

Traffic in Frenetic HCMC, Vietnam

The Ego Trip Express on Facebook

Link: The Ego Trip Express on Facebook

A collection of big ideas, both realized, unrealized or disappeared, from the realms of science,…

The Ego Trip Express has it’s own Facebook fan page. Be sure to Like it at https://www.facebook.com/EgoTripExpress

Imagining a More Protected Coney Island of the Future

Link: Imagining a More Protected Coney Island of the Future

Welcome back to Architecture 101, a new Curbed column in which writer Henry Melcher shares architecture students’ coolest ideas for New York City. Have a project we should see? Drop…

mobylosangelesarchitecture:

i just got back from detroit, where i was playing at the movement festival (which was as festivals go, i say with some objectivity, amazing).

i’ve been going to detroit since the late 80’s (as it is the birthplace of modern electronic music), and i’ve always loved it.

culturally and musically and artistically it’s a fascinating place, but it’s also fascinating in that it has more remarkable abandoned buildings than any other city in the western world (this might sound like hyperbole, but i’m guessing it’s actually true).

it’s worth stating that there are big parts of detroit that are not filled with abandoned buildings. and those are nice, too… but the parts of downtown detroit that are filled with beautiful old abandoned buildings are aesthetically amazing (as evidenced by the fact that lots and lots of people have taken pictures of them).

on saturday i had the afternoon off, so my friend shannon (who lives in a former abandoned building) took me on a bike ride around detroit to look at her favorite abandoned buildings (what she refers to as ‘ruin porn’).
here are some of my favorites.

and i hope that these buildings at some point get the love and care that they deserve. but in the meantime: ruin porn.

thanks,

moby

Yes, ESA Is Still Under Construction

Link: Yes, ESA Is Still Under Construction

The biggest public transit infrastructure effort in the US is almost completely invisible — unless you’re 160 feet underground.

yonderplanets:

Milky Way - Andromeda Collision Animation (by SpaceWatch99)

Somewhere in a Parallel Universe...

Manhattan Memorious from Reiser + Umemoto on Vimeo.

Here is a very brilliant video depicting images of a Manhattan that never came to be. “Manhattan Memorious” features the Lower Manhattan Expressway (LoMax), Buckminster Fuller’s Dome over Midtown, and other vast unrealized projects.

The Jet Age by ~Ranchoth