Selected work on Urbanism, Arts & Culture, and Politics & Policy.
Recent Faves
We’re All ‘Citizens’ in the Republic of Branding
The New York Times, November 4, 2023
Excerpt from ‘The Steve Keene Art Book’
with thanks to Billboard writer Joe Lynch
Billboard, May 17, 2022
Stop the East River Park chainsaws: De Blasio should halt plans that begin today
NY Daily News, November 1, 2021
The infrastructure kids learn in
NY Daily News, August 16, 2021
It’s a Funhouse for Selfies, But Is It a Museum?
Citylab, October16, 2019
Urbanism
How cities are seizing the moment to focus on climate and equity
City Monitor, July 15, 2020
The City Has Food to Share. Do You Know Where to Find It?
Citylab, September 9, 2019
Mad As Hell Dept: Cause For Alarm
The New Yorker, December 28, 2003
Photo-Documenting the Lost Landscape
of Lesbian Nightclubs in New York City
In the academic journal Change Over Time, Issue 8.2,
University of Pennsylvania Press, Fall 2018
What Can New York City Do About
Retail Vacancies As Rents Rise?
Citylab, November 29, 2018
When Pride Comes to Town
Citylab, June 22, 2018
Landmarks Lost: The Future of the
Leaderless Landmarks Commission
The Architect's Newspaper, June 8, 2018
Preserving the Meaning of Lesbian Bars
Citylab, October 11, 2017
How Cities Can Save Small Shops
Citylab, July 24, 2017
How to Preserve Our Disappearing Small Businesses, Creative Spaces and Restaurants
A collection of trendsetting reportage and analysis
Neighborhood Preservation: A Trend of the Year
The Forward, January 4, 2014
What a Glass City Can Do With Its Sunlight
On "Glimmerance"
Next City, September 25, 2013
What the High Line's Success Can Teach Us
City Limits, June 15, 2009
Arts & Culture
It’s a Funhouse for Selfies, But Is It a Museum?
Citylab, October16, 2019
The Midwest Town That Designs Above Its Weight
Citylab, August 10, 2017
Sorry, America: There Is No 'Hanukkah Season.'
Forward, December 6, 2016
Squiggles Are the New Quarter Notes: Why Music Looks Different Now
The Atlantic, October 3, 2014
Culture in Greenwich Village
selections from 'Off the Grid' @ villagepreservation.org:
Interview with Penny Arcade: On Saving the Soul of NYC and Yourself - April 30, 2014
A Son of the East Village, Murdered, and a Controversial Opera - October 26, 2015
The Tree of Heaven in Washington Square - July 23, 2015
James Baldwin and His Greenwich Village - October 2, 2015
Millay and the Magnolia Tree - April 23, 2015
Frank O'Hara and His 'Democracy of Affection' - June 6, 2014
Happy Birthday W.H. Auden, East Villager - February 21, 2014
Commemorating a Favorite Concert Hall, the Fillmore East - October 24, 2014
Still Living in Dawn Powell's Village - December 10, 2013
On the Film "Monsieur Klein" and Nazi-Looted Art Today
The Forward, December 6, 2013
I.B. Singer and the Problem of Surviving
-- A Review of "Enemies: A Love Story"
The Forward, June 11, 2013
How Communal Singing Disappeared From American Life
The Atlantic, March 28, 2012
Don't Ask, Don't Dwell: The One Big Rule for Giving a Book as a Gift
The Atlantic, December 24, 2012
The Hook, Overlooked: Why Is It So Hard to Find a Place to Hang Our Stuff?
The Atlantic, August 8, 2012
Sipping Under the Sukkah: Infused Rye Cocktails
The Forward, September 27, 2010
Politics & Policy
Stop the East River Park chainsaws: De Blasio should halt plans that begin today
NY Daily News, November 1, 2021
The infrastructure kids learn in
NY Daily News, August 16, 2021
Nashville Has the Most Kurds in the United States. And They’re Angry.
Citylab, October 25, 2019
In the Era of the Permanently Lowered Flag
Who What Why, July 27, 2016
The Art Deco Ziggurat
is part of A City Without Limits: The Places Behind City Limits' 40 Years of NYC Coverage
City Limits, February 3, 2016
Real Estate's Attempt to Co-opt the Affordable Housing Discussion
Gotham Gazette, May 1, 2015
Our Wishlist for the Next Buildings Commissioner
Off the Grid, May 16, 2014
The Real Obstacles to Affordable Housing Construction
Off the Grid, October 15, 2013
A Tale of Two Times Articles
Off the Grid, February 28, 2014
The Triangle Factory Fire: A Century Later
Sweatshops Didn't Go Away
Workers' Centers: A Clubhouse for Struggle, Support
A Call For A Sweatshop-Free Zone in NYC
The Forward, April 1, 2011
Democratic Failure on the Horizon? A Classic Explanation Says Why
The Forward, November 1, 2010
Missing Half of the Potentially Best Ideas
The Forward, November 24, 2010
Freedom/Fear: Civil Liberties in Today's New York
While editor of CityLimits.org, I co-produced the first comprehensive look at NYC civil liberties post-9/11, and wrote the lead article for this issue of City Limits's quarterly magazine.
City Limits Investigates, Summer 2008
CityTime: Investigating A Massive Urban Boondoggle
City Limits, 2006-2008
A Room and Not Bored: One Path Out of Shelter
City Limits, October 26, 2009
A Winter's Tale: What the Homeless Tally Means
City Limits, March 9, 2009
What's the Point of Protest?
This essay was widely circulated and cited during the charged time of George W. Bush's second inauguration, and since.
Common Dreams, January 18, 2005