The American Community Survey is a massive annual effort by the Census Bureau to measure various aspects of American life. Among many other things, respondents are asked if they speak a language other than English at home, and if so, what language is spoken. Using this data, as explained in more detail at the bottom of this post, Business Insider was able to map out New York City's most popular non-English languages. — Business Insider

Cuba is in talks with the Bronx Museum to organise the first major exhibition by a US museum in the country, according to local reports. The show would be part of the 12th edition of the Havana Biennial next year, and could be followed by an exhibition in New York in 2016 that would feature work by Cuban artists. [...]

During her opening remarks, Perera emphasised the role of culture in “breaking barriers imposed by governments that have nothing to do with the will of the artists” [...]. — theartnewspaper.com

As prices rise in Brooklyn, brokers in Bedford-Stuyvesant have been breaking sales records left and right since March [...] Nine of Bed-Stuy’s top 15 residential sales in the past five years are from 2014 [...] Meanwhile, the median sales price during the second quarter rose to $630,000, up from $425,000 in the second quarter of 2013. In June of this year, the median asking price was even higher, according to StreetEasy data: $895,000, a 50.4 percent increase from June 2013. — The Real Deal

Bedbugs were discovered on at least three subway trains on the N line this week, authorities said. Two trains were taken out of service Sunday after the unwanted riders were found onboard some cars, officials said. And on Tuesday, a third N train was also sent to the Coney Island yard in Brooklyn for fumigation. Some of the bugs were found in seat cushions in train cabs, which are used by conductors and motormen, sources said. — NY Daily News

With so many crossovers in private operations, public data, and private uses, our future transit agency would blur the line between public and private sectors in a way we haven’t yet pioneered. The challenge is one of governance, bureaucratic turf, organizational development, planning, and public policy, not simply one of technology. Technology is just a tool, and our human institutions can either make use of it or try to ignore it. — urbanomnibus.net

If you loved 5Pointz, grab a box of tissues because you aren't going to be happy with what's planned for the soon to be demolished building. New renderings of what will replace the former art mecca have emerged, and unsurprisingly, the towers are as ho hum residential as they come. The new design is the work of New York-based HTO Architect, and once complete, will hold 1,000 apartments within two towers of 41 and 47 stories each. — 6sqft

Sharif El-Gamal, CEO of real estate developer Soho Properties, announced today that his company acquired 49-51 Park Place from Consolidated Edison for $10.7 million. He also revealed that none other than Pritzker Prize-winning starchitect Jean Nouvel will be designing the site’s three-story Islam museum and prayer space. — 6sqft

Witold Rybczynski, the architect and emeritus professor of urbanism at the University of Pennsylvania, complained recently about “starchitects” who often work in cities they are unfamiliar with, creating buildings that are out of sync with their surroundings. In an interview, he argued in favor of local architectural talent, or “locatecture.”

Are superstar architects ruining city skylines? — NY Times

Zaha Hadid's swooping, spaceship-like condo building along the High Line is just about the most exciting of the many buildings on the rise in West Chelsea and the dozens of projects designed by starchitects in New York City. Mind-boggling renderings of the wavy exterior? Check. Some voluptuous floorplans, plus pricing? Check. Here now, the first look inside the West 28th Street condos, with two unreleased renderings snagged by a tipster. — ny.curbed.com

When Alfredo Jaar’s glittering “A Logo for America” video first played on a Times Square billboard in 1987, it riled up New Yorkers. [...] shows the words “This is not America” inside the outline of the United States. “A Logo for America” will receive a second life this week; beginning on August 1, the video will pop up on Times Square signs and screens between 11:57 pm and 12:00 am. But this 2.0 version loses some of the video’s original intent to reach a broad—and hopefully attentive—audience. — artfcity.com

New York City is moving forward with a proposal that calls for a new high-rise apartment complex to feature separate doors for wealthy tenants and those living in the building’s affordable housing unit.

While wealthy residents will be able to enter the building from its designated front entrance, affordable housing tenants will be required to go in through a back alley.

A mandatory affordable housing plan is not license to segregate lower-income tenants from those who are well-off. — RT

Here is another reason to buy a mega-million-dollar apartment in a Manhattan high-rise: Earthquake forecast maps for New York City that a federal agency issued on Thursday indicate “a slightly lower hazard for tall buildings than previously thought.”

The agency, the United States Geological Survey, tempered its latest quake prediction with a big caveat.

“The tall buildings in Manhattan are not where you should be focusing [...]" — nytimes.com

While YIMBY recently revealed Extell’s Nordstrom Tower, the first glimpse lacked a perspective of the structure’s impact on the broader Midtown skyline. Now, with the help of illustrator Armand Boudreaux, YIMBY has fresh images of the skyscraper’s position on the skyline, including nearby developments like 220 Central Park South, 111 West 57th Street, 432 Park Avenue, and 53 West 53rd Street. — New York Yimby