A few decades ago there was some really exquisite looking cookie-cutter housing on these lots on the north side of the 300 block of W 126th St in Harlem. Could we build housing here again? Is "fenced off lot for much of the year" really the highest and best use here today?

Vancouver's proposed single stair code is a bit different from anywhere else, in that it focuses on external stairs, and allows 6 units on the first 3 floors. Vancouver also has fairly deep (122') lots in much of the city. It's an interesting design challenge vs status quo massing.

Iowa City eliminating transit fares might be a useful case study for other college towns, but no, NYC should not be looking at the 5th biggest municipality in Iowa for how to run and finance transit in a real city.

Hard to see how we're going to greatly expand publicly-owned social housing if housing authorities like Philadelphia Housing Authority can't bring down the costs of maintaining their properties.

Refreshing to see the CEO of the Philadelphia Housing Authority reiterate providing housing is their mission, not jobs. More important than ever for housing agencies to keep their priorities straight with federal housing dollars getting scarce.

It's great when a sidewalk is wide enough for some street trees. Wide enough for MULTIPLE rows of trees is even better.

In the 1940s there was a 4 story residential building at 330 Saint Nicholas Avenue, but for the next few months the parcel will be locked up, inaccessible to Harlem residents like me. If this transit-oriented site isn't going to be social housing, could it at least be a real park?

Why does Greenwich Village have so many locked up pocket parks?? I've got a cup of coffee and some time to kill: let me hangout in the cute little park on this charming autumn morning!

Love to see Samuel Stein pointing out property tax reform in NYC could help with the expense side for rent stabilized buildings at this Furman Center policy breakfast. Could explain why Mamdani is talking about reform, but doesn't mean Hochul will be interested before her election.

How many European cities have a better skyline than North Jersey? No way it's more than half a dozen, right?!

Cities tolerating excessive honking by drivers is unfortunately a strike against living in dense neighborhoods. Most residents on my block don't own a car, but if one driver is inconvenienced even temporarily by double-parking the noise becomes a problem for all of us.

Independence Mall is a big empty space with frankly off-putting vibes at night. It used to be a dense mixed-use neighborhood, but now it (and the surrounding federal buildings) produce no night time ridership. What a failed urban renewal mistake. 6abc.com/post/man-sta...

Great op-ed from the NY Daily News editorial board about how important it is for @governor.ny.gov to veto the mandatory subway overstaffing bill. If even the NYC subway system is a jobs program before a mobility service transit in the USA is truly doomed. www.nydailynews.com/2025/11/17/v...

NIMBYs complaining about tall buildings ruining nearby parks always sounds so silly to me. I don't think any of the kids playing at the Vincent F. Albano Jr Playground really mind.

I was disappointed (if not surprised) to see a tire shop only a block away from the Neck Road subway station in Homecrest, Brooklyn. But looking up old municipal records and this corner has been an auto shop since at least ~1940. Just a century of transit oriented auto-infrastructure.

The Bellevue Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia absolutely LOOMS over the surrounding buildings in the early 20th century, and I love her for it.

Why is there a municipal parking lot right in-between 2 subway stations in Bensonhurst? There used to be businesses and mixed-use buildings here, so maybe we should try that again?

I really enjoyed this photo (Public Transit Areas #12, 1980) by Anthony Hernandez at the Met. As unimpressed as the bust stop in LA may be, at least it has some seating. Bench might not be much, but it's certainly better than nothing. Unfortunately LA has lost this technology.

Perplexing to me how many single-story buildings you see from subway platforms in NYC, like all of the restaurants & retail near the 36 Ave station in Queens. Maybe if there was more transit-oriented development then weekend headways on the N train wouldn't be so mediocre?

SEPTA's Regional Rail system is just straight up collapsing to the point where they're canceling trips 24 hours out. Not too long ago Philadelphia's transit peers were Boston, Chicago, and DC. So sad to see it descending down to "still better than Atlanta or Baltimore" levels.

Not gonna lie, I enjoyed just watching a bunch of attempted fare-evaders miss the train because nobody opened the emergency gate for them.

Walking through Central Park during a stormy evening is worth it just for the views of the skyscrapers. Just need a few more pencil towers to really balance out the skyline.

These 4 or 5 cops couldn't bother to look up from their phones as half a dozen scoundrels rushed through the open emergency door. The MTA would be better off paying for more of the contracted guards; they actually seem to take their job seriously and keep the trouble-makers out.

Weekend headways like this to accommodate track maintenance really has to make you wonder if just shutting down overnight to get work done wouldn't be a better alternative 🤔 Would be an easier sell if alternative bus service wasn't usually inconvenient & dreadfully slow.

I'm happy to see SEPTA has finally installed these posts at one (1) station, but why did it take YEARS to install what looks like off the shelf fencing?? We have GOT to fix transit procurement. Other countries build whole lines in the time it's taken to roll out this pilot.

Look at these rush hour frequencies and tell me automating NYC's legacy subway lines shouldn't be a priority.

I checked to see if SEPTA has posted their September On Time Performance and Missing Trips data, and it looks like their Key Performance Indictors page has stopped working over the last few days. Which doesn't feel like an incorrect reflection of how things are going if we're being honest.

Loved hearing from Alec Schierenbeck, executive director of the Charter Revision Commission, on how NYC charter amendments will make it easier for smaller firms to start building housing during last night's @opennewyork.org meeting. That's who builds Missing Middle housing.

Do you still get angry when you visit a restaurant that used to have a cute streetery which has been replaced with on-street parking? I do. Lucy's is great, but it's so maddening premier American restaurant cities like NYC and Philly decided car storage is paramount. 2020➡️2025

A large percentage of cyclists will ride their bikes sidesaddle was just not a trend I saw coming, but here we are in 2025

Believe it or not this is actually East 27th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues in Manhattan. I'll take those gorgeous trees over on-street parking any day.

If Mamdani was serious about finding the money for free buses he'd come out strongly against the 2 person staffing bill that would swallow up hundreds of millions of dollars each year. But he's not: he'll side with the transit unions over the riders (and DSA types will defend it).

The Federal Transit Administration published new funding guidelines for the Capital Investment Grants (CIG) program today, no longer considering the social cost of carbon when rating CIG projects. I wonder if @sunrisemvmt.bsky.social regrets not endorsing Harris yet?

The budget deal finally reached in Pennsylvania includes no new funding for transit, leaving agencies like SEPTA in real bad shape. So I'm glad to see the Board is focused on the important issues at this month's meeting: making sure the favored type of firms get more contracts.

Hotel Fontenelle in downtown Omaha was built in the Late Gothic Revival style and opened in 1915. It closed in 1971 and razed in 1983 to be replaced with a surface parking lot.

I really love it when transit agencies directly connect capital projects with improved service. And making specific promises enables a higher level of accountability. "Greater resilience" is great, but tough to assess if it came true, unlike better frequencies or expanded hours.

Stumbled upon this 2018 op-ed from @justinbrannan.bsky.social and James Parrott on the need for property tax reform in NYC, and amazing how much of it could be published unedited today. If Mamdani (and Hochul?) make even marginal improvements I'll be impressed. www.nydailynews.com/2018/03/12/r...

New Marron survey of 400+ subway lines across the world from London to Paris to Shanghai finds just 6% still use two-person train operation, which would be required by a TWU-backed bill. “It doesn’t really matter to us what the data shows,” says TWU boss Samuelsen www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/n...

Maria Foscarinis is emphasizing fully funding Housing First as the federal solution that could finally end homelessness at this Furman Center book talk. Nothing about increasing housing production 😥

People actually already love car-free streets. They just think of them as one-offs, for the occasional farmers market. But with sufficient density you can really do this full time. Even as the weather chills.

Sorry NYC lawmakers, but if you want the city to be an attractive place for young people to make art we're just gonna need to achieve housing abundance for everyone. These types of artist-specific housing won't cut it. And yes of course they are discriminatory. gothamist.com/news/manhatt...

Catching up on the new season of Always Sunny in Philadelphia and I really appreciate all of the establishing shots with the Comcast Technology Center. A fun reminder of how much the city's skyline has changed since 2005.

Single story retail RIGHT next to subway entrances always seems so odd to me. But admittedly for many station adjacent lots it's been that way for a LONG time. At least the paved lot behind this building has been replaced with a daycare. 18th Ave & New Utrecht Ave ~1940➡️Yesterday

I find it difficult to get too worried about robot cars coming to NYC when having to dodge and weave through cars driven on the sidewalk by regular drivers all of the time anyway. Even right next to subway stations.

"NYC has a lot more alleyways than I realized" is something I re-learn every time I explore neighborhoods far enough away from Manhattan. This pocket of Sheepshead Bay near Marine Park reminded us so much of parts of Northeast Philly.

Ocean Parkway is just insanely wide; I can't imagine having to put up with this everyday. I enjoyed checking out this part of Gravesend in Brooklyn yesterday, but shepherding young kids back and forth across all of these lanes of traffic sounds miserable.

A locked up church parking lot across the street from a subway station seems like a real zoning & taxation policy failure? You can literally see the steps up to the 25th Avenue station in this photo.

The public bathrooms in NYC Parks are an amazing amenity that makes being out and about so much easier. BUT only if they're open. We tried using these restrooms in Mellett Playground, but a Sheepshead Bay neighbor explained they've been out of service for two years 😬

12 minute headways in Bensonhurst during the rush hour has me dreaming of automating NYC's legacy subway and elevated rail lines. Is this what living in Brooklyn is like??

I really appreciate how decent temporary sidewalks usually are in NYC; makes being a pedestrian well less stressful. Can't count the number of times I was walking down the sidewalk in Philly only to be forced to scurry in the street without any sort of protected path.