The Queens Power Plant New York Cannot Quit
Ravenswood once nearly became the world's largest nuclear plant. Sixty years later, New York is still trying to replace its fossil-fuel power without losing its electricity.
EDU Short
The Coney Island Cyclone Is Designed to Move
The Coney Island Cyclone has survived since 1927 because its wooden structure can flex, be repaired, and keep changing without losing the ride itself.
The Park Avenue Tower Being Unbuilt for Citadel's Supertall
350 Park Avenue is being cleared for a planned 1,414-foot office tower shaped by air rights, all-electric systems, trading floors, and Midtown's view economy.
The Municipal Building That Hid a Subway, a Street, and a Rooftop View
The David N. Dinkins Municipal Building was designed as a civic machine, combining city offices, streets, subway access, and a newly opened public rooftop view.
The New Jersey Pole Field That Tested America's Telephone Network
Bell Labs planted treated telephone poles in a New Jersey field to learn which woods and preservatives could survive decades of weather, insects, and rot.
The Bryant Park Plaque That Hides a Door to the Library Underground
A split plaque in Bryant Park hides an emergency exit for the New York Public Library's underground stacks, where millions of books sit beneath the lawn.
The Fulton Center Artwork That Shows Up for Work Every Morning
Fulton Center's Sky Reflector-Net turns daylight into wayfinding, pulling the sky down through a glass oculus into one of Lower Manhattan's busiest transit hubs.
The Pepsi-Cola Sign That Survived Its Own Factory
Long Island City's Pepsi-Cola sign began as a rooftop advertisement, was rebuilt after storm damage, outlived the bottling plant, and became a New York City landmark.
Why So Many New York Towers Have Tiny Cranes on the Roof
The small crane-like machines on New York rooftops are building maintenance units, and they quietly shape how skyscrapers are designed, cleaned, and inspected.
The Skinny Tower That Helped Carnegie Hall Pay Its Bills
Carnegie Hall Tower squeezed past the Russian Tea Room, rose 757 feet from a narrow site, and helped turn cultural air rights into a Midtown business model.
The Cast-Iron Boxes That Guard New York's Pizza Water
New York's famous tap water is monitored through 965 sidewalk sampling stations, a quiet system that protects everything from public health to pizza dough.
The Midtown Conversion That Suddenly Became a Structural Emergency
A buckling-column scare at the former Pfizer headquarters turned one of New York's biggest office-to-apartment conversions into a warning about structural reuse.