Cityscape

Curbed
best of new york

Best of New York 2021

 Reintroducing a 36-year-old New York magazine franchise. By The Editors
  1. There Are Only 7 Homes in New York City Under $100,000 Despite what a couple of mayoral candidates think the average Brooklyn sales price is.
    By Willy Blackmore
  2. The Look Book Goes to Sami’s Kabab House During the third week of Ramadan, people gathered to break the fast with Qabuli, lamb shanks, and aushak at the Astoria restaurant.
    By Jane Starr Drinkard and Brock Colyar
  3. New York’s First Climate Adaptation Battle Is Here The city wants to bury East River Park to save it.
    By Keith Gessen
  4. Subway Crime Is Still Low, But the MTA Wants More Cops. Why? “Generally, when there’s a uniformed presence, people are more likely to behave.”
    By Caroline Spivack
  5. Everywhere ‘Succession’ Has Been Filming Lately The Plaza, the Mandarin Oriental, the Shed, and a $50 million Beach Lane home.
    By Jenny Xie
  6. How the Oldest Family-Run Business in Chinatown Keeps the Lights On “Throughout the COVID year, we had a half a dozen family members here every day. It’s our family living room.”
    By Diana Budds
  7. Could We Really Get a Good Penn Station? Yet another wisp of hope.
    By Justin Davidson
  8. What’s a Crown Heights Supermarket Worth? It’s a lifeline to local residents. It’s also a valuable development site. You can guess where this story is headed.
    By Caroline Spivack
  9. We Asked the Bushwick Piano Building’s Architect: Why? “This client likes unique and interesting designs,” he says.
    By Christopher Bonanos and Valeria Ricciulli
  10. What Could Governors Island Be? An aquatic botanical garden, a film-set landscape, and more: Four fanciful transformation plans, commissioned by Curbed.
    By Justin Davidson
  11. An Electric Car in High-rise Manhattan: How Long Is Your Extension Cord? The realities of a plug-in car when you live in the Financial District.
    By Paul Greenberg
  12. A Driver Destroyed Another Streetery, and This Time Someone Died The crash killed a 37-year-old delivery worker.
    By Caroline Spivack
  13. That TikTok-Famous Building Is Bolting Down Its Bathroom Mirrors After millions of views, management is bringing out the drills.
    By Valeria Ricciulli
  14. Oh Look, de Blasio and Cuomo Are Fighting Over Reopening Again The mayor is promising to lift restrictions the governor set.
    By Caroline Spivack
  15. Towers in a Flood Zone? Two Trees Just Wants You To Look At The Wetland Up Front An array of green features are being used to garner support for the proposed River Ring apartments.
    By Willy Blackmore
  16. The Look Book Goes to Dia Chelsea After a two-year renovation, the gallery reopened with an exhibition of works by artist Lucy Raven.
    By Jane Starr Drinkard and Brock Colyar
  17. The Open-Plan Office Was an Auditory Disaster To quiet the din, consider a 1976 Acoustic Conditioner.
    By Alexandra Lange
  18. Remember the Office? A look back at 150 years of cubicles, corner offices, all-nighters, and the holiday party.
    By The Editors
  19. The Infinite Semiotics of the Office Bathroom It is an unavoidable intersection of power and poop.
    By Sloane Crosley
  20. What It Was Like to Work at The Paris Review in the 1980s A few of the people we discovered became famous; many did not.
    By Mona Simpson
  21. Scandals, Murders, and Innovations in One Iconic New York City Office The Equitable Building is not as famous as the Chrysler, the Empire State, or even the Flatiron. But it changed the city in countless ways.
    By Chris Pomorski
  22. The Exquisite Pleasure of a Dead-End Job The dirty deeds, office drama, and pay irregularities of a starter job.
    By Mark Harris
  23. The Subtle Art of the Executive Assistant The role occupies a peculiar place in the modern office.
    By Molly Young
  24. Why Is Office Lighting So Bad? Fluorescents were terrible. But LEDs can drive you insane.
    By Rachel Handler
  25. New York City Made the Office And the office, in turn, made modern New York.
    By Justin Davidson
  26. Six Municipal Workers on Going Back to the Cubicle “Those elevators are packed like a can of sardines.”
    By Caroline Spivack
  27. In Conversation With Dianne Morales, the Tenants’ Candidate “I’m not promising to take New York City back to normal. I’m promising something new.”
    By Valeria Ricciulli
  28. MoMA’s ‘Reconstructions’ Show Changed My Relationship to Space and Cities Should Black designers revise a history that erased them? Or should they revolt?
    By Kimberly Drew
  29. Lincoln Center Wants You to Lie Down on Its Plaza How comfortable will that plastic grass really be?
    By Christopher Bonanos
  30. Does the Metaverse Need a Zoning Board? As new crypto investments flood online worlds, conflicts between virtual neighbors are on the rise.
    By Sophie Haigney
  31. What It Takes to Open a Bar in a Subway Station Multiple agency approvals, and unlocking a door that’s been sealed since the 1970s.
    By Willy Blackmore
  32. The Look Book Goes to the Rockaway YMCA Checking in with masked members at the gym.
    By Jane Starr Drinkard and Brock Colyar
  33. Mr. Cyclone Is Back in the Front Car At 5:30 this morning, the roller coaster’s first rider of the season arrived for his 15th opening day.
    By Caroline Spivack
  34. A Brooklyn Building Is Screeching. We Asked an Acoustician Why. Wind is creating an effect like “when you blow over the top of an empty soda bottle.”
    By Caroline Spivack
  35. Barbara Kavovit’s Plan for Rikers Sounds Uncomfortably Like an Internment Camp A colony for the homeless, isolated on an island in the East River.
    By Caroline Spivack
  36. Volunteers Are Funding Open Streets Programs. Why Isn’t the City? Locals and donors are doing the day-to-day work of making it happen.
    By Caroline Spivack
  37. The Bronx Bodega Founded by a Former Music Executive “You have to support the people who support you.”
    By Caroline Spivack
  38. A Pop-up Bookstore Honors a Man Who Intended to Give It All Away Tom Burgess’s immense library of books gets recirculated.
    By Camille Baker
  39. Geffen Hall’s Renovation Will Be Finished Two Years Early The pandemic closure allowed Lincoln Center to fast-track the rebuilding of the Philharmonic’s main auditorium.
    By Justin Davidson
  40. Immigrant Cleaners Are Tired of Working On Their Hands and Knees A new campaign by women day laborers is pushing for better working conditions, cleaning supplies, and PPE.
    By Valeria Ricciulli
  41. MoMA’s First Show on Race in Architecture Chooses Lofty Ideas Over Pragmatism “Why settle for the probable when we could instead imagine what is possible?”
    By Justin Davidson
  42. Whitney Hu’s Favorite Spots in Sunset Park Yemeni breakfast, unlimited hot pot, and the perfect parking lot for events.
    By Amy Zhang
  43. The Chinatown Block Watch, One Year Later Including local grandmothers and men in combat gear, this 40-member patrol watches for anti-Asian attacks in the neighborhood.
    By Eveline Chao
  44. The Best Housepainters in New York An architect favorite who has been likened to Jackson Pollock, a downtown go-to with a knack for color combinations, and more.
    By Trupti Rami
  45. The Best Upholsterers in New York For restoring mid-century chairs, pattern-matching a couch, and more.
    By Trupti Rami
  46. The Best Therapists in New York We asked 31 notable New Yorkers about their therapists and are publishing their referrals in their own words.
    By Louis Cheslaw and Liza Corsillo
  47. The Best Playgrounds in New York Giant geodesic climbing nets, ravines full of sprinklers, and a variety of slides.
    By Caroline Spivack
  48. The Best Custom Woodworkers in New York Whether you want a Judd-like plywood bench, a full wall of bookshelves made of rift-cut oak, or just some simple, inexpensive cabinets.
    By Diana Budds
  49. Smorgasburg Will Take Over the Former Hester Street Fair Space And it will now be called Hester Flea.
    By Valeria Ricciulli
  50. The Best Toy Stores in New York A Harlem fixture owned by a former schoolteacher, the packed-to-the-gills shop in Cobble Hill, and more.
    By Lauren Ro
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