The Manhattan Apartments Built Directly Over I-95
The Bridge Apartments turned air rights above the Trans-Manhattan Expressway into housing, then left residents living over one of New York's dirtiest traffic funnels.
New York
The Useless Lighthouse That Children Saved From Scrap
The Little Red Lighthouse lost its job when the George Washington Bridge opened above it, but a children's book gave it a second life.
The Hidden Roadway Under the George Washington Bridge
The George Washington Bridge became the world's busiest motor-vehicle bridge by adding a second roadway beneath the one everyone sees.
The Skyscraper That Hangs Over an Art School
Central Park Tower's most revealing detail is not just its height. It is the cantilever that lets the tower hang over the landmarked Art Students League to protect park views.
Why World Cup Fans Had to Pay $98 to Reach MetLife by Train
MetLife Stadium was built for car crowds, but the World Cup turned NJ Transit into the front door of the stadium.
The Massive Oil Spill Still Sitting Under Greenpoint
The Greenpoint oil spill was discovered from the air in 1978, but it had been accumulating underground beside Newtown Creek for decades.
New York's First Concrete Building Became a Tiny Landmark Beside Whole Foods
The Coignet Stone Building was built as a concrete advertisement in 1873. More than 150 years later, it still sits apart from the city around it.
The Stepped Manhattan Building Designed to Keep Its Shadow Off the Park
Mercedes House looks like a staircase because a straight tower beside DeWitt Clinton Park would have created a much harder approval fight.
The Brooklyn Bridge That Slides Sideways Across the Street
The Carroll Street Bridge does not lift or swing. It rolls diagonally out of the way, a rare 1889 solution to the tight geometry of the Gowanus Canal.
The Beautiful Eggs That Digest New York's Sewage
The Newtown Creek digester eggs turn sewage sludge into gas, heat, and fertilizer material, while doubling as one of Brooklyn's strangest landmarks.
The Brooklyn Towers That Twisted Open a View
Eagle + West looks playful from the waterfront, but its strange rotated forms came from a serious urban problem: how to build tall without walling Greenpoint off from the river again.
Why New Yorkers Still Commute on a Ski Lift
The Roosevelt Island Tram was supposed to be temporary, but a delayed subway, a dramatic rescue, and a full rebuild turned it into a permanent New York commute.