Archinect - News

Michael Kimmelman checks in on a case study for affordable housing in NYC

2024-02-13T17:49:00-05:00

It wasn’t a visual spectacle, but it was handsome and dignified, standing out with its prefab metal facade not just in a neighborhood of empty lots, aging apartment blocks and derelict rail tracks but also against a backdrop of dreary, bare-bones affordable housing developments all across the city. Most important, its goal was larger than itself: to reimagine subsidized housing for a new century. I promised in that column to report back on whether it succeeded. Did it?

The Via Verde redux is an interesting return to Kimmelman's very first Times column. He wrote the housing scheme’s developer Phipps “knows what it’s doing.”

Whatever is working has got to be scaled up and replicated rather quickly. As he points out, both the city and New York State failed to adequately fund and approve new housing starts to enter the construction pipeline in 2023 despite a present need for approximately 50,000 new units annually.

Kimmelman, whose personal mission to raise housing standards for New Yorkers is well known, is occasionally charged with promotionalism for writing such pieces. (It's worth noting that this is now the critic's second review of a completed Dattner project in as many years.)

Archtober 2023: NYC's Building of the Day series is back with architect-led tours

2023-09-26T18:58:00-04:00

Archtober, New York City's annual month-long festival of Architecture and Design, is about to commence once again, featuring a packed calendar of exciting events and activities across the five boroughs.

Organized by the Center for Architecture in collaboration with a host of partners, Archtober is returning its popular Building of the Day initiative, which offers unique opportunities to explore nearly 30 outstanding buildings and sites through tours led by architects and other design professionals.

Check out the list of this year's sites below and use the Archtober Map to New York as your handy mobile guide.

Monday, Oct 2: Powerhouse Arts. Photo: PBDW Architects.

Monday, Oct 2: Powerhouse Arts
Architect: Herzog & de Meuron; PBDW Architects

Tuesday, Oct 3: High Line - Moynihan Connector
Design: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM); Field Operations

Tuesday, Oct 3: High Line - Moynihan Connector. Photo: Lucas Blair Simpson © SOM.

Wednesday, Oct, 4: One South First
Architect: COOKFOX

Thursday,...

New York City announces major new Harlem River Greenway in the Bronx

2023-03-28T13:47:00-04:00

A new greenway project expected to make over a corridor of the Harlem River between the Bronx and Upper Manhattan was announced recently by New York Mayor Eric Adams, adding an important new cog in his administration’s ‘20-20 Vision Zero’ plan that aims to improve and increase pedestrian access across the city.

The project will take shape over the next decade and will bring better bicycle pathways to several bridges in the seven-mile-long area. The plan calls for nodes at Van Cortlandt Park to the north and Randall’s Island to the south. The city will commence a public engagement process beginning April 18th and says it is an important step in reconnecting communities that have been divided by the Federal highway system since the 1930s.

“This administration continues to deliver for all five boroughs, and expanding the Harlem River Greenway to the Bronx is a huge win for equity and justice,” Mayor Adams said at a press conference. “Our administration is leading the way in undoing the...

The NY Times' Michael Kimmelman reviews Adjaye Associates' Bronx 'DREAM'

2023-02-20T12:31:00-05:00

In this case, architecture is the issue and the engine of renewal. With its triple-height library and exalting, barrel-vaulted classrooms with huge punched windows overlooking Manhattan, the redesigned ice plant becomes one of the most spectacular school buildings in the city. [...] the historical arc of 20 Bruckner, as the building is called, is instructive and tells a larger tale about the Bronx, change and renewal.

The NY Times critic gets off the sixth train to explore Adjaye Associates' first American K-12 project in Mott Haven, The Bronx. Kimmelman mentioned his two best-known New York projects – 130 William Street and Sugar Hill Mixed-Use Development – in addition to D.C’s National Museum of African American History and Culture for context and said its well-placed lightwells and other design features place a “premium on architecture [that] makes an obvious statement about the value of Dream’s students.”

He went on to add what seems like a heartfelt note on the tragic deaths of three immigrant construction workers on the site between 2019 and 2021. “I didn’t begin this column with that information because Assemblywoman Septimo is right," he wrote. "Stories about the South Bronx invariably start with trauma, casting the community as victim. For students, the new DREAM school is a place of hope and opportunity — a new chapter and good news for the neighborhood.”

It seems like a critic trying...

FEMA is getting tough on property managers with the hopes of preventing another Bronx fire tragedy

2023-01-12T17:05:00-05:00

On the first anniversary of the Twin Parks fire in the Bronx that killed 17 people, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will announce a new national plan to combat “America’s fire problem” using investigatory muscle granted by federal legislation that President Biden signed last month. The legislation will give the United States Fire Administration the power to identify the causes of fires like the one at the Twin Parks North West housing complex.

A year removed from the tragic blaze that took the lives of 17 people in the Bronx apartment complex once lauded by Paul Goldberger for its trend-bucking design, lawmakers in Washington have finally heeded the desperate pleas of public housing advocates who appealed for stricter safety measures in response to the Twin Parks fire and another incident in Philadelphia just days prior.

Biden appointee Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell, the head of the U.S. Fire Administration, said the lack of adequate fire data will also be addressed for the first time. The results will hopefully benefit the estimated 1.3 million Americans who live in public housing. Last year alone, there were more than 1.2 million reported structure fires (of all types), resulting in the deaths of some 2,500 people nationwide.

Related Feature on Archinect: America’s Public Housing is Burning, Fueled by Cold Indifference

“It’s always in our neighborhood,” one former Twin Parks resident told the Times, referring to the deadly di...

Snøhetta unveils green design for new Westchester Square Library in the Bronx

2022-12-19T16:24:00-05:00

Snøhetta has recently unveiled designs for a new 12,000-square-foot library project in the Bronx’s Westchester Square it says will expand on the diverse neighborhood’s lineage as a “place where knowledge is acquired and shared for generations to come.”

The new building for the New York Public Library (NYPL) branch is sited next to the historic 131-year-old Huntington Free Library, will come wrapped in a pastoral print fritted glass facade in reference to the Bronx’s status as NYC’s greenest borough and target a LEED Platinum certification through an environmental strategy that includes an array of solar panels, rainwater recycling, a high-performance envelope, and slate of energy conservation measures.

Its two-story interior is organized around a need for natural light in educational spaces and the desire to frame a street-level exterior Viewing Garden that serves as a “counterpoint to the surrounding urban landscape” while adding “visual interest to the indoor experience.”

Image co...

Dattner debuts a record-setting new 26-story passive house high-rise in the Bronx

2022-11-14T12:35:00-05:00

Dattner Architects recently celebrated the opening of a new 26-story affordable housing project in New York City it says sets a new standard for the application of one of the building industry’s most sustainable techniques in the design of high-rise apartment structures.

Located in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx, it has 277 total units with a host of on-site community services and is considered the largest passive house building in North America.

According to a city press release, the $178 million new structure at 425 Grand Concourse is meant specifically for the formerly homeless and those earning between less than 30% and 130% of the median income in an area in which 22% of all residents are considered food insecure.

Image courtesy Dattner Architects

“Our administration is focused on creating affordable housing for New Yorkers that doesn’t just help those who move in but enhances the entire community, and 425 Grand Concourse does exactly that,” NYC Mayor Eric Adams said dur...

Alexander Gorlin Architects completes 10-story affordable housing development in the Bronx

2022-11-02T16:06:00-04:00

A new $62 million affordable housing project from Alexander Gorlin Architects has been completed in the Bronx for developers Comunilife, a local nonprofit aimed at improving the lives of vulnerable communities through a combination of housing justice and culturally-sensitive supportive services.

The firm’s El Borinquen Residence at 3401 Third Avenue features a total of 148 “deeply affordable” units, with 29 being reserved for seniors and an additional 90 set aside for those experiencing homelessness and youths who have recently aged out of the foster care system. It is a follow-up to their highly-praised Boston Road development two blocks north and was framed by Governor Kathy Hochul as the lynchpin for a larger five-year and $25 billion housing plan that is desperately needed as the city grapples with a protracted emergency corresponding to its high cost of living.

Image courtesy Alexander Gorlin Architects

"With the completion of the El Borinquen Residence, more of our neighbors e...

Marvel reveals $26 million renovation project at The Bronx Museum of the Arts

2022-10-27T17:42:00-04:00

The Bronx Museum of the Arts has just announced a two-year, $26 million overhaul of the museum’s now 50-year-old 165th Street and Grand Concourse location.

Led by Marvel and overseen by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), the overhaul will include changes to the original 1962 synagogue structure’s entrance and lobby area to coincide with a rebranding campaign authored by Brooklyn-based independent design studio Team.

Renderings of the proposed upgrades appear to show a unification of the building’s North and South wings through the South Atrium, with a new "reimagined, spacious lobby" that includes street-facing displays for rotating exhibitions, expanded seating areas, and a "community gathering space" similar in concept to the anchoring "living room" David Adjaye is in the process of creating for the new Studio Museum in Harlem nearby.

Image courtesy Marvel

Materials like folded copper bronze panel roofs add tonality and provide a reflection of the Grand Co...

Archtober 2022: Explore NYC's Buildings of the Day with architect-led tours

2022-10-04T14:11:00-04:00

It's that time of the year again: Archtober, New York City's Architecture and Design Month, is back. Now in its 12th year, the annual festival has returned with another packed calendar featuring lectures, tours, workshops, screenings, and other exciting live special events across the five boroughs.

Organized by the Center for Architecture in collaboration with numerous partners, Archtober is once again presenting its popular Building of the Day series, inviting New Yorkers and visitors to explore significant buildings and sites through tours led by architects and other design professionals.

Take a look at the full list of featured sites below and use the Archtober Guide to NYC as your handy mobile guide.

Saturday, Oct 1: New York Public Library Van Cortlandt Branch. Photo: Michael Moran.

Saturday, Oct 1: New York Public Library Van Cortlandt Branch
Architect: Andrew Berman Architect

Monday, Oct 3: Battery Maritime Building
Architect: Marvel

Monday, Oct 3: Battery Maritime Building. Pho...

The Bronx's Universal Hip Hop Museum gets a 2024 opening date

2022-08-15T19:35:00-04:00

An opening date has been set for S9 Architecture’s Universal Hip Hop Museum (UHHM) project in the South Bronx.

Located on the site claiming to be the birthplace of hip hop, the new $80 million museum, which is part of a larger $349 million mixed-use residential development called Bronx Point, will open sometime in 2024. According to Hyperallergic, the museum is being developed by Bronx native Rocky Bucano alongside Microsoft and MIT professor D. Fox Harrell to create an immersive and “technologically advanced interactive museum experience.”

May 2022 construction photo of the Bronx Point development. Image courtesy the Universal Hip Hop Museum via Facebook

Phase One of the Bronx Point development is expected to be completed by the end of next year. In total, the 22-story building will include over 1,000 residential units (around 540 of which are considered affordable), the museum (the exhibition spaces of which are designed by Ralph Appelbaum Associates with the Hip Hop Architect, Mic...

First phase of mixed-use affordable housing development atop former juvenile detention center site opens in the Bronx

2022-06-22T15:11:00-04:00

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has announced the completion of the first phase of a five-acre redevelopment project called The Peninsula. The project will bring hundreds of affordable homes and community amenities to the former site of the Spofford Juvenile Detention Center in the Bronx’s Hunts Point neighborhood. It is the site where Adams was held at 15 years old.

In 2011 the detention center was closed after 54 years in operation, and was notorious for its poor conditions. Today, the initial $121 million phase of the mixed-use development has been completed, including 183 affordable units for New Yorkers earning between 30 and 80 percent of the area median income, with 18 homes specifically reserved for individuals who previously experienced homelessness. In addition, the building features a range of amenities, including a community room, a children’s playroom, a fitness room, and bike storage space.

The development includes a cultural arts center with a state-of-the-art black ...

An adaptive-reuse project in the Bronx has become New York's most notorious construction site

2022-06-07T09:00:00-04:00

This site, where an old building is being transformed into a charter school, has just distinguished itself from the 40,000 other major construction projects in New York City by having its third worker fatality in less than three years. No other construction site in New York City has had this many separate fatal incidents since at least 2003, when the Department of Buildings began keeping electronic records. But despite the pattern of deaths, the consequences have been negligible.

In full view of the Major Deegan Expressway, 20 Bruckner Boulevard, known throughout the New York area as the site of the iconic former History Channel (and later iHeartRadio) billboard, was once the ice storehouse of a former Yankees owner and is now being transformed into a charter school by developer Maddd Equities, who has had a scant $28,000 in fines levied against them in the past years despite the record-high fatalities.

Being a construction worker is one of the most lethal occupations in New York City, with rates of injury and death rising ahead of the pandemic before falling slightly owing to the economic downturn. Most of the men profiled in the Times are nonunion immigrant laborers working for $120-per-day to start, with some being recruited from homeless shelters to meet demands. An OSHA investigation revealed that some deaths were not properly reported for weeks.

Previously on Archinect: Nearly 1 in 4 workplace deaths in New York occur in construction

Multiple stop-work...

NYC Mayor Eric Adams signs executive order strengthening fire safety enforcement in response to deadly January Bronx fire

2022-03-21T17:09:00-04:00

Mayor Eric Adams said the city will crack down on buildings with a high number of fire safety violations, two months after a blaze killed 17 tenants of a Bronx high-rise with a history of complaints. As part of a new executive order signed on Sunday, the city will increase information sharing between the FDNY and the city’s housing inspectors “to identify safety violations earlier and increase fire safety compliance.”

As part of what’s called Executive Order 12, the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) will launch a broad campaign to educate New Yorlers on fire safety. The order will also require the FDNY to conduct more frequent inspections of buildings found in violation of the city’s fire code. The HPD will work to ensure that fire safety notices are posted on the front doors of apartment buildings and will alert the FDNY and building owners if not.

Previously on Archinect: New York's deadliest fire in years was the product of a space heater and mechanical issues

The severity of the January 9th fire was due to an apartment door not closing automatically, which allowed smoke to rapidly spread through the building. The city will work with the City Council to enact additional fire safety legislation, which includes legislation that increases fines for landlords who falsely report curing a self-closing door violation. There is currentl...

No more broken windows: Rafael Viñoly’s faulty courthouse building is getting worse by the day

2022-02-22T18:00:00-05:00

When it opened in 2008, the loftily named Bronx Hall of Justice was billed as the crown jewel of New York’s court system — the biggest courthouse in the state, sheathed in glass and housing enough courtrooms to handle dozens of criminal and civil cases each day. All these years later, the verdict is that it’s more like a broken-down jalopy.

Numerous problems including flooding, failed fire alarms, shattered glass windows that appear out of nowhere, and floor collapses stemming from a built-over underground stream have befallen the Rafael Viñoly-designed Bronx Hall of Justice for more than a decade. The courthouse building has still not been granted its official certificate of occupancy by the city’s Department of Buildings, although an official with the agency did make it clear the building was safe and that the process will be completed as soon as five “mostly minor” code violations are addressed.

Until then, the DOB has to continue issuing 90-day temporary certificates, the most recent of which expired on New Year’s Eve. The only thing holding up this end of things is a dispute between the federal Office of Court Administration (OCA), which keeps an office in the building, and the city, on whom the OCA claims the sole responsibility for repairs falls.

“Our history with this building goes back to its opening. While i...

Lawmakers are pushing for change in the wake of last month's deadly Twin Parks Fire as residents look to rebuild

2022-02-10T16:30:00-05:00

It has been a month since the deadly space heater-induced apartment fire at the Twins Parks housing complex claimed the lives of 17 people and displaced more than 200 families from a largely Gambian immigrant community in the South Bronx. The incident has turned into a bellwether for the state of public housing and building safety in the United States and elsewhere. Here is an update on the events that have transpired in the four weeks following the deadly blaze.

At least 59 families have been staying in hotels spread out across the Bronx with several different local agencies working to secure long-term solutions. Many of the displaced are reporting challenges and limited options and a lack of genuine concern.

“No one is helping us working class. We don't know where to go, what to do – they keep holding that we have income over our heads,” Vercie Pope told a local news outlet. “One case worker told me pay for it yourself, pay out of pocket for everything. I don't think I have to pay...

Michael Kimmelman on some newer rays of light in NYC’s public housing stock

2022-02-07T11:59:00-05:00

Writing about Twin Parks in 1973, The Times’s former architecture critic, Paul Goldberger, speculated that the project might “turn out to be important in the history of housing design.” [...] design, however compassionate, can mean only so much against the obstacles that make up the housing problem today.” The calculus is the same half a century later. But the South Bronx isn’t. Gradually, it has been remade. Progress isn’t impossible, it’s a process.

Both observed South Bronx developments, 1490 Southern Boulevard and a transformation of the Lambert Houses, are seen as examples of high-quality and effective public housing that offers residents more than just desultory amenities. The Times critic broke down the new-ish developments by Dattner and Bernheimer Architects by first cautioning us with a history lesson about nearby Twin Parks (which Paul Goldberger predicted might “turn out to be important in the history of housing design” at its opening in 1973), adding that, in his view, the pair offer “templates for redoing” many of NYCHA’s 302 other campuses.

“It’s an 18-story building with 163 permanently affordable units and a doorman. The boxy, drab exterior, set a few steps up and back from the street wall, looks almost belligerently banal. But inside the building is comfortable, luxurious even, compared with the deteriorating apartments and hallways I saw in the old buildings. Crucial to the conversion, no tenants are being dis...

Lawmakers are calling for federal action in the wake of this month's deadly Bronx fire

2022-01-28T12:18:00-05:00

On the heels of [the] horrific Bronx fire that killed 17 people, including eight children, Senator Charles Schumer and Congressman Ritchie Torres on Tuesday unveiled a "4-point federal fire safety package" that includes addressing sprinklers, self-closing doors, heaters and federal investigation powers.

The pair of lawmakers had recently joined together to push the federal government to include the Cross Bronx Expressway into the infrastructure bill. Their new fire safety plan includes a mandate on automatic space heater shutoff features. The early-January fire that killed 17 at the Twin Parks North West apartment building near Fordham University has been blamed on a device that had been left unattended for days.

Torres has been adamant about bringing the incident into the national conversation on housing inequality, pushing in Congress for punitive measures that can be affected against landlords that do not properly maintain routine building safety measures like the self-closing doors that failed in Twin Parks.

“People of color in places like the South Bronx often live in conditions that put them at far greater risk of losing everything — their homes, their families, their own lives — from a catastrophic fire,” Torres said at a press conference. “We have the tools to save lives. ...

New York's deadliest fire in years was the product of a space heater and mechanical issues

2022-01-10T15:29:00-05:00

The fire was started by a malfunctioning space heater in the bedroom of a third-floor apartment on Sunday. Fire officials say the door of the apartment did not close as residents fled and that allowed smoke to spread throughout the building.

The deaths and injuries in Sunday’s tragically avoidable accident were exclusively the product of smoke inhalation as the fire itself was contained to the apartment and outside hallway.

The blaze came just days after another horrible incident in Philadelphia that claimed the lives of twelve people including eight children.

The mayor’s office officially revised the number of dead in the Bronx case to 17 early Monday. The department of buildings said it has no plans for the remaining structure following a preliminary inspection and that survivors will be offered relocation assistance from the Red Cross at this time.

In response, the FDNY said that it was investigating a “maintenance issue” stemming from a faulty door that allowed the smoke to spread throughout the building. The company that owns the building sent The New York Times an email statement in which it claimed all of the doors in the 19-story structure were self-closing as required by law as late as July.

According to Lt. ...

Archtober 2021: Don't miss this year's Buildings of the Day

2021-10-01T17:36:00-04:00

Archtober, New York City's month-long festival of architecture and design, has officially returned with a packed calendar of hybrid virtual and in-person events from October 1st through 31st.

Organized by the Center for Architecture in collaboration with numerous partners across the city, Archtober is once again presenting its popular Building of the Day series, inviting New Yorkers and visitors to explore significant buildings and sites through architect-led tours.

Take a look at the full list of featured sites below and use the Archtober Guide to NYC as your handy mobile guide.

Friday, Oct 1: Little Island
Architects: Heatherwick Studio and Standard Architects
Landscape Architect: MNLA

Saturday, Oct 2: Shirley Chisholm State Park
Landscape Architect: Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates

Monday, Oct 4: Tammany Hall. Photo: Francis Dzikowski.

Sunday, Oct 3: Summit One Vanderbilt
Interior Architect/Architect of Record/Landscape Architect: Snøhetta
Building Base Architect: KPF

Monday, Oct 4:...

The Bronx Museum of Arts is looking for an architect for its new South Wing addition

2021-07-09T18:07:00-04:00

The Bronx Museum of Arts in New York City is seeking an architect for a planned expansion of its collection.

The Bronx Times is reporting that the institution released a request for proposals this week that will add a new South Wing atrium to the museum located in the Bronx’s Grand Concourse neighborhood.

The museum, which added an Arquitectonica-designed three-story North Wing in 2006, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and has been under the tutelage of an interim director since early last year. The institution has been able to weather the pandemic thanks to an emergency PPP loan and will now look forward to a new chapter of prosperity coinciding with the new addition. The museum has become known around the art world for a progressive board and popular exhibitions that have elevated artists of color to the international stage for some time.

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons user Jim.henderson

The expansion is expected to add an “enhanced entrance” to the building as wel...

Archtober 2020: find all Buildings of the Day in one handy list

2020-09-30T13:28:00-04:00

As September is wrapping up, we look forward to Archtober 2020 kicking off tomorrow. Celebrating its 10-year anniversary, the month-long celebration of architecture and design is presented as a hybrid virtual and in-person festival this year — allowing visitors to join events and activities online from a safe distance, or even from outside of New York City.

Returning once again is Archtober's popular Building of the Day series, pandemic-adjusted for 2020 and held in an accessible, virtual format. Tours or presentations will be held Mondays through Fridays at midday and, for the first time, also include architecturally significant sites outside of the New York area as part of Archtober's new Travel To series.

Take a look at the full Building of the Day list below.

Monday, Oct. 5: Greenpoint, Van Cortlandt, and East Elmhurst Libraries
East Elmhurst Branch Library: Garrison Architects
Van Cortlandt Branch Library: Andrew Berman Architect
Greenpoint Library: Marble Fairbanks

Tuesday, Oct....

New York Botanical Garden to build affordable housing complex in The Bronx

2020-02-12T14:57:00-05:00

The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) and Douglaston Development have announced a plan to build a two-towered, 450-unit affordable housing complex on garden-owned site located one block away from its 250-acre facilities in The Bronx.

Real Estate Weekly explains that the project comes as a result of Douglaston signing a 99-year lease with NYBG for the right to develop the property. The development will bring two 12-story residential towers to the area that will offer below market-rate and senior housing units. The two towers will be connected at ground level by a 20,000-square-foot community-serving grocery store, according to the plan. The site is currently occupied by a collection of brick commercial buildings that include an existing Cherry Valley grocery store that will be relocated during construction and then moved back in as the two-phased project is completed.

Previously on Archinect: "Brooklyn Botanic Garden protests shadow-casting skyscraper with “Fight for Sunlight” exhib...

New York City may get a brand new Major League Soccer stadium (including affordable housing)

2020-02-10T15:07:00-05:00

New York City F.C.’s circuitous search for a permanent home [...] has come full circle. The team’s owners, in conjunction with a group of local developers, are nearing an agreement with New York City that would allow the team to construct a privately financed, 25,000-seat stadium in the South Bronx as part of a development project costing more than $1 billion.

According to the NYT, the New York City Football Club may be close to sealing a deal with a group of developers to build a 25,000-seat soccer stadium complex in the South Bronx near Yankee Stadium. The project, which would also include retail, a hotel, a school, and much-needed affordable housing, has a few zoning hurdles to take first but reportedly has the blessing of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio.

"Though nothing has been finalized, there has been significant progress made, thanks to the hard work and dedication of our partners on this exciting project," wrote the club's CEO, Brad Sims, in a statement released this weekend. "We are actively involved with MADDD Equities, the Yankees, NYC Economic Development Corporation, the Bronx Parking Authority, and numerous Bronx community groups and local leaders to bring a transformative project proposal to the South Bronx, one piece of which would be a soccer-specific stadium. We are proud to partner with MADDD Equities, a well-known affor...

WXY replaces juvenile detention center in The Bronx with affordable housing

2019-11-11T21:00:00-05:00

WXY architecture + urban design, Body Lawson Associates, and the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) have broken ground on a $300 million redevelopment plan that will replace the defunct Spofford Juvenile Detention Center in The Bronx with up to 740 units of affordable housing and a slew of community-serving uses.

Phase one of the project, the phase currently under construction, aims to bring 183 units of affordable housing earmarked for "extremely-low," "very-low," and "low-income" families, according to New York YIMBY. Within the total, YIMBY reports, 18 units will be made available to people who have previously experienced homelessness.

The site is marked by a collection of public plazas and tree-filled passageways. Image courtesy of WXY architecture + urban design.

Ultimately, over 17,000 square feet of retail, 56,000 square feet of light industrial uses, and 53,500 square feet of community facilities will be included on the site of what once was a decrepit ...

Triboro train connecting Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx could become a reality

2019-10-18T15:17:00-04:00

It's been 95 years since passenger trains rumbled down the tracks of the Bay Ridge Branch. The MTA has decided to study whether it makes sense to restore passenger service to the line, which is owned by the Long Island Rail Road, runs from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn to Ridgewood, Queens, and is only used by freight trains now. "We first proposed this in the '90s," says Kate Slevin, of the Regional Plan Association.

If built, the proposed Triboro Line could eventually run for 24 miles and connect the boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx.

Describing the plan, Kate Slevin of the Regional Plan Association tells Spectrum News, "We don't have unlimited resources here in New York City, as we know, so the fact that we already have tracks there, that are underutilized, really means a lot."

Aside from finding a way to pay for the initiative, backers of the plan must work out a use agreement so that the city's transit agency can use the rails, as portions of the tracks in question are owned either by Amtrak or commercial rail entity CSX.

Check out Archtober 2019's Buildings of the Day (and our handy map to find them all)

2019-09-26T15:21:00-04:00

Archtober 2019, New York City's month-long festival of architecture & design, is only days away now.

As in previous years, the festival calendar also features exclusive tours and events again at nearly 30 Buildings of the Day in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island. Registering early is recommended — many events sell out fast.

Take a look at the full Building of the Day list below and use Archinect's handy interactive map to easily locate each building. The map also allows to rediscover 2018's buildings, in case you missed some of them last year.

Oct 2: Brooklyn Children’s Museum. Photo: Chuck Choi/Rafael Vifioly Architects.

Oct 1: Hispanic Society Museum & Library
Original architect: Charles Pratt Huntington (1906)
Renovation Architects: Selldorf Architects + Beyer Blinder Belle (ongoing)

Oct 2: Brooklyn Children’s Museum
Original architect: Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates (1977)
Renovation architect: Rafael Viñoly Architects (2008)
Rooftop canopy: Toshiko Mori (2...

New Bronx police station designed by Bjarke Ingels aims to improve police and community relations

2018-07-13T15:54:00-04:00

Ground has finally broken for a police station in the South Bronx that will provide a new home for NYPD's 40th Precinct. Expected to open in 2021, the precinct will be leaving its current space, a three-story, 1920s Renaissance Revival building, for a shiny, 68-million-dollar new one, designed by none other than Bjarke Ingels.

“We were working in a century-old building that was designed for century-old policing methods. Now we’re changing that with a modern facility made for modern, neighborhood policing" said NYPD Commissioner James O'Neil.

Bronx is one of the city's poorest districts, as well as its most crime-ridden. And newly released data shows it to be increasing; the murder rate nearly doubled in the first half of 2018. Officials hope the new facility could help change that, with a community oriented design believed to foster transparency and communication between the police and local residents.

From the outside, the building is shaped like a stack of bricks. Meant to refer...

In search of better affordable housing: the origin story of the Bronx's Twin Parks development

2017-12-27T14:02:00-05:00

In the 1970s, a state agency tapped some of the best young architects in the country for an ambitious affordable housing effort that—despite its flaws—could not be matched today. Twin Parks, an affordable housing project in the Bronx, does not comport with expectations. [...] Overall, it provides palpably better affordable housing than what’s typically offered in the U.S., and maintains an engaged community.

CityLab writer Anthony Paletta looks back at the origins of the 1970s Twin Parks affordable housing development in the Bronx and its (now) famous architects who were then just gaining traction in their young careers, most notably Richard Meier, James Polshek (and this year's winner of the AIA Gold Medal), and Lo-Yi Chan.

New York's iconic yellow cabs are slowly disappearing from city streets — and Uber is cashing in

2017-10-13T15:12:00-04:00

What seemed inevitable for quite some time now, has finally come to pass; Uber has overtaken yellow cabs in average daily ridership figures, the New York Times reports. This past July, Uber witnessed an average of 289,000 rides per day, whereas yellow cabs only managed 277,000.

More than half of Uber's rides start outside of Manhattan. Yellow and green cabs are not as accessible in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island and users prefer Uber and other ride-share apps. The company capitalized on this market by offering borough-specific promotions and moved its support and recruitment center outside of Manhattan.