Right to Picnic!

The Bed-Stuy Aquarium: A Model of Emergent Urbanism

Bed-Stuy Aquarium. Photo by Mia Winther-Tamaki, 2024Its mid-August, on a hot summer day in Brooklyn. At the intersection of Tompkins Avenue and Hancock Street in Bed-Stuy, you’ll find a gathering of people on the sidewalk, huddled around a leaky fire hydrant. Children are laughing excitedly, pointing at the ground; their mothers smile behind their phones, taking pictures. From the spout of the fire hydrant, a steady stream of droplets trickles into the gravel pit below, where a group of local...

Free third places; a love letter to Prospect Park

I’m lying in a grassy field, tucked away in the folds of Prospect Park—belly-down, feet swinging in the air. I hear birds chirping, and the warm air soothes my skin. I feel like I’m nestled in the rolling hills of a bucolic meadowland, somewhere far away from New York City. This space allows me to escape from the bustle of the city, while still being deeply in it. I flip over onto my back and daydream while watching wispy clouds drift across the blue sky. A sweet, minty aroma flavors the air ...

Rhetoric of Resilience and Radiation in Post-Fukushima Japan

The Japanese people and landscapes still feel the unending impacts of a nuclear catastrophe that occurred a dozen years ago. Thousands of...

Mourning New York City’s Smart City Tech (neoliberal fallacy); Celebrating its Potential (tool for collective liberation)

New York City is launching a flurry of “smart city” initiatives, ballyhooed by the Adams administration as the nation's shining key ...