As a walking tour guide and historian, I’ve discovered that an often-overlooked source for understanding New York City is old guidebooks. Whether it’s something as mundane as addresses of railway ...

The interior of the Yale Club. Photo by the Wurts Brothers, courtesy of the New York Public Library. Modern private social clubs (which are usually seen as distinct from fraternal organizations such ...

The intricacies of New York City’s zoning laws tend to make even the wonkiest of city wonks’ eyes glaze over, but it’s almost impossible to overstate the importance of those byzantine rules and the ...

It is not often that Yonkers can claim to be more innovative than New York City, but in its gritty downtown corridor, a unique project unlike anything in the five boroughs is currently unfolding.

Some say the East Village is dead, Manhattan has been murdered, and New York City has lost its soul. Some say that if you stand in the right place and squint hard enough, it can almost seem like the ...

New York City’s museums aren’t the only places to find beautiful or thought-provoking art. Since 1967, when the first public art program was established in the city, a diverse array of agencies and ...

One sunny afternoon about a year ago, I rendezvoused with two old friends for a beer. Each of us arrived on a CitiBike from our respective neighborhoods. We convened at a newly opened outdoor ...

Admiral's Row, a strip of historic residences in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, is now scheduled to be demolished and replaced with a Wegmans grocery store. All photos by Nathan Kensinger. Welcome back to ...

Down on the waterfront of Sunset Park, billions of dollars in public and private investment have slowly reshaped one of Brooklyn’s last industrial strongholds. Over the past decade, warehouses have ...

It took Amazon nearly a year to select the two cities that would house its second, split-up North American headquarters, and only three months for one of those deals—with New York City—to fall apart.

Over the past seven years, the federal, state, and city governments have coordinated to address some of the most toxic sites in New York City, initiating cleanups in communities where pollution has ...

If you buy something from a Curbed link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics policy. Part of The beginner’s guide to New York City There are hundreds, if not thousands, of books about New ...