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Daily What?! What’s That Abandoned Roller Coaster Thing Along the East River?
We’ve been wondering what this curious roller coaster-like structure is, sitting along the East River just under the Queensboro bridge. Turns out it’s an abandoned art installation by Alice Aycock,...
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NYC That Never Was: Trinity Church Gets Eclipsed by a Massive Skyscraper
Source: Library of Congress “The Future of Trinity Church” is a wood engraving from 1907 by Albert Levering from Puck’s Monthly Magazine and Almanac. Based on what we can find about Levering, who lived...
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Google Celebrates Claude Debussy Birthday with an Interactive Doodle in Paris
Google is celebrating the 151st birthday of French composer Claude Debussy with this fun, interactive doodle set to the tune of his famous piece, Claire de Lune. Is the location Paris? Likely but with...
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Daily What?! The 7 Line Subway Entrance to Nowhere in Manhattan
Recently, we reported on the staircase to nowhere in Riverside Park. Today, we present to you the subway entrance to nowhere. This Banksy-like find was discovered by Rembert Browne last year on 57th...
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Cities 101: What was the “Poo-Poo Choo-Choo”? An Overview on Sewage Treatment...
A modern sewage treatment plant: The Digester Eggs at Newtown Creek Until 1992, ocean dumping was permitted in the Atlantic Ocean. According to Kate Ascher, author of The Works, New York City took its...
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The NYC Pop-Up Dîner en Blanc Returns in September at a Secret Location
If you’ve been following Untapped Cities for a while, you probably know that we love the Dîner en Blanc, ever since we started attending the invite-only one in Paris in 2010. But with our belief that...
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Jet Ski Tours Part of Hurricane Sandy Recovery in the Rockaways
Image via Rockaway Jet Ski Even before we talk about Hurricane Sandy recovery, the experience of circling Manhattan with a jet ski is unlike any exploration you can do in New York City. When you take...
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Untapped Staff Picks: 5 Abandoned Places You Can Visit in NYC, An Underwater...
NYC Second Avenue Sagas and ArchPaper explain why the Queensway shouldn’t be compared to the High Line, even though both are abandoned rail lines. Untapped Cities founder, Michelle Young quoted in New...
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Historic Building on Trinity Place near World Trade Center to be Demolished
ArchPaper and New York Yimby have reported that the 25-story Art Deco building which has been the headquarters for Trinity Church’s administration offices will be demolished and replaced by a glass...
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Cities 101: Where and How are NYC Subway Cars Made?
This video came out a few years ago on National Geographic when the R160 subway cars were introduced in New York City, but it’s nonetheless still an awe-inspiring view at the Alstom factories which...
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Fun Maps: What Manhattan Sewers Smelled Like in 1910
New Yorkers complain about a lot of stuff. A little while back we showed a 311 map by the Furman Center with vermin, broken street lights and partying dominating complaints. Gothamist shared this map...
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Untapped Mailbag: What’s Going on with the Abandoned Buildings in Brooklyn...
An Untapped Cities reader submitted this photo of this building in Dumbo, Brooklyn asking what it was. It’s a historic tobacco warehouse at 38 Water Street right under Brooklyn Bridge. It was used by...
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Incredibly Detailed Race Maps of US: NYC, Los Angeles, Detroit
Race map of NYC. White: blue dots; African American: green dots; Asian: red; Latino: orange; all others: brown Dustin Cable at University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service used race...
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Street Art Hotspot: Sidewalk Murals from ArtUP Walk on Extra Place in the...
One of our favorite functionally named streets, Extra Place, is now infused with cool street art that’s literally on the street! The ArtUP program by non-profit organization FABnyc animates...
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Cities 101: What Are the Rules on Fire Escapes in NYC?
Fire Escape in Soho by Instagrammer lilyangrui We all love fire escapes and what they represent both visually and historically for the New York City landscape. But what are the rules regarding them?...
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Untapped Mailbag: When Every Town in France Had Its Own Time Zone
After reading our Daily What?! on the 114-year old clock embedded in the sidewalk on Maiden Lane in New York City, Untapped Cities reader @meringuette asked us about the above photograph via Twitter:...
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Fun Maps: Riker’s Island Keeps Disappearing and Reappearing (on MTA Maps)
August 2013 NYC Subway Map by the MTA with Rikers Island Over the years, the MTA and earlier transit agencies have both included and omitted Rikers Island from its maps, undecided as to how public or...
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Cities 101: Salt Sheds in NYC as Architecture Porn
The Spring Street Salt Shed will be completed in 2014 Who knew salt sheds could be architecture porn? Next year, the $10 million salt shed on Spring Street and West Street will be completed, designed...
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A Beautiful Roundup of NYC Subway Map Covers from 1924 to 2012
While researching about the disappearing and reappearing Rikers Island on MTA subway maps, we came across this website that has compiled the covers of New York City subway maps from 1924 to 2012. We...
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Untapped Staff Picks: World’s Smallest Museum, WWII Barrier in NYC,...
Here’s a look at what the Untapped Cities staff is reading and sharing this week, ranging from the world’s smallest museum, the architecture of cults, “parkcycles” (yes, it’s what you think it is),...
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