August 7, 2014

A Subjective Map of New York City: Dutch Graphic Artist Takes Virtual Check-Ins to a New Level

Social media has certainly made it easier to take a nostalgic look back in time; a quick perusal of one’s past Facebook statuses or Twitter feeds is all it takes to remind us of what we were doing last week, month, or even last year. (Yes, we know some of those photos are cringe-worthy; we have them too.) Consider all of the different places those statuses and tweets were generated from, and imagine what it might look like if you tracked all of those locations on a map of the city – a literal "walk" down memory lane, if you will. That’s exactly what Dutch graphic designer Vincent Meertens and his girlfriend did between March 2012 and January 2013, using an application called OpenPaths. The result? An intricate series of dots and lines (10,760 data points in all) representing all of their movements through New York City.
More details ahead
July 22, 2014

Map Enthusiast Creates a More Geographically Correct Version of Vignelli’s Old Subway Map

For anyone in the world who's ridden the New York City subway, they've undoubtedly taken a curious gander at the system map, full of its rainbow-colored, crisscrossing lines. But what many riders may not know is that in 1972, a man named Massimo Vignelli was commissioned by the city to create a very different version of this map, immediately sparking controversy for its geometric simplicity and geographical inaccuracy. In 1979, Vignelli's map was replaced with a more organic, curving version like we see underground today. In 2008, the MTA commissioned Vignelli's firm to update their map, and a new version was put online to serve as the Weekender, highlighting weekend service changes. But now, underground map enthusiast Max Roberts has gone one step further, and claims he's come up with a perfect compromise between the Vignelli work and the MTA's signature map.
See what Mr. Roberts has come up with
July 18, 2014

NYC’s Threat of Earthquakes on the Rise, But Tall Towers Have a Lower Risk of Being Affected

You read it right, tall towers in New York City actually have a lower risk of being affected by an earthquake. The U.S. Geological Survey, the federal agency responsible for reporting and recording earthquake activity, recently updated their National Seismic Hazard Maps, which "reflect the best and most current understanding of where future earthquakes will occur, how often they will occur, and how hard the ground will likely shake as a result." One change to the maps since they was last updated in 2008 is that the east coast has the potential for larger quakes than previously outlined, but residents of NYC high rises are in a slightly lower risk bracket.
Learn why straight ahead
July 1, 2014

The Air Up There: New Map Shows Untapped Development Potential of Every Manhattan Property

When Extell Development, Hines and JDS Development Group tapped into air space along West 57th Street to push their projects to well above 1,000 feet, preservationist groups were up in the arms. Their outrage prompted The Municipal Art Society, a non-profit whose mission is to “fight for intelligent urban design, planning and preservation through education, dialogue and advocacy”, to create a new map showing just how much untapped development potential exists in the square footage above every property in Manhattan.
More on how the map was developed

Our Mission

More than just current events, here you'll learn about the places, people, and ideas that are shaping your city.