New Amsterdam ~ US x NL @ NYC...

How the Dutch influenced NYC and USA via New Amsterdam...

Bulldozing the Future ~ Unwise Preservationism...

Reason's Jim Epstein shares how The Destruction of Penn Station Led to the Landmarks Preservation Movement and re-evaluates it...

"The underground Penn Station that replaced the old structure is a planning nightmare that's outright disliked by the general public, but that’s an argument for replacing it with something new, not saving the flawed structure that preceded it. New York became the world’s preeminent city by letting its developers sometimes violently tear down old buildings. Progress isn't free, and neither is preservation."

Old NYC ~ Vintage Footage, Geocoded...

Very cool oldest motion pictures of NYC with geocoding...

Window on Manhattan ~ Boudreault's Timelapse!

Kuriositas spots Dominic Boudreault's Window on Manhattan...

Millionaire's Matchstick ~ NYC's Pricey Sky Vistas!

Stephen Farrell of the NYTimes writes of A View That Costs $81 Million from the top of the so-called Millionaire's Matchstick...

"New York’s tallest residential building, 432 Park Avenue, reached its full height on Friday, 1,396 feet. It opens next year and the penthouse views, in all directions, are spectacular."

Learning From Sandy ~ Can NYC Really Prepare?

Superstorm Sandy -- two years ago, this past two weeks or so -- exceeded expectations and caught much of NYC and our American eastern seaboard surroundings short. Surge flooding, power loss, transit disruption, property damage, and more. Watch the docus to get a sense of scale and ferocity... The NYC Comptroller has upped estimates of property at-risk and the NYC leadership are on the ball pushing for change. DotEarthling Andrew Revkin spotlights NYC's softer relationship with the sea and especially NYTimes colleague Alan Feuer's Building for the Next Big Storm ~ After Hurricane Sandy, New York Rebuilds for the Future...

"In the next four decades, scholars say, sea levels are expected to rise by as much as 30 inches, and if the worst projections come to pass, about 800,000 city residents could find themselves living with the threat of being swamped. According to an insurance report commissioned by the city, if New York suffers another storm like Sandy in the early 2050s, when ocean levels and the population are likely to be higher, it could cause $90 billion in damage -- almost five times the cost of the initial storm."

Some radical new thinking is needed about coastal flood resilience, defence-in-depth, room for the water, more savvy infrastructure, and more... Especially watch this series of speakers highlighting plans for Recovery and Resiliency at NYC's Hospitals (NYU Langone, Bellevue, etc)... P.S. Here's some historical nuggets, including my commentary on 27 Oct 2012 Superstorm Sandy ~ Tracking Emergent Weather, 28 Oct NYC Evac Map ~ Warning Zones for Sandy, looking at big picture on 29 Oct Imaging Sandy ~ NASA/NOAA Timelapse, the disaster retrospective Into the Storm ~ Final Days of Tallship Bounty, NYC Mayor Bloomberg announcing PlaNYC, early thoughts on resiliency, the power of drills in the hospital evacuations, and specific inventions, like the Tunnel Plug!

Strip the City ~ Urban Tech Underneath & Inside!

Cool Discovery show Strip the City! Here's Dubai... San Francisco... New York... Sydney... London...

On The Frontlines ~ NYC Property Flood Risk...

Thanks to Henry Melcher at ANblog for spotting new New York City Comptroller’s office policy brief On The Frontlines summarizing updated estimates of expected cost of property at risk from the next big Hurricane Sandy-class storm.  Bottom line:  ~US$130 Billion, over double previous estimates mostly due to expanded boundaries of expected damage, as visualized on maps...

Survivor Tree ~ Resilience, Survival, Rebirth...

The Survivor Tree thrives beyond near-death and destruction...

"A callery pear tree became known as the "Survivor Tree" after enduring the September 11, 2001 terror attacks at the World Trade Center. In October 2001, the tree was discovered at Ground Zero severely damaged, with snapped roots and burned and broken branches. The tree was removed from the rubble and placed in the care of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. After its recovery and rehabilitation, the tree was returned to the Memorial in 2010. New, smooth limbs extended from the gnarled stumps, creating a visible demarcation between the tree’s past and present. Today, the tree stands as a living reminder of resilience, survival and rebirth."

Kuriositas spots The 9/11 Survivor Tree’s Story Voiced by Whoopi Goldberg: A True Metaphor for the Human Spirit...

"This beautiful animation, with the tree given voice by Whoopi Goldberg, forms the centerpiece of a campaign to encourage people to visit the 9/11 Memorial & Museum outside of which the tree stands proud and tall, welcoming visitors. Survivor Tree was animated by Elastic, through the BBDO Agency. As a metaphor for the human spirit and testament to the healing power of caring, it takes some beating."

The Top ~ Urban Luxury Lifestyle Constructions...

New Midtown ~ NYC's Penn Station, MSG++

H3 reimagines NYC's Midtown by moving Madison Square Garden, rebuilding Penn Station, and enabling up-densing of the neighborhood!

1 World ~ Lower Manhattan Rebuild Timelapse!

io9's Lauren Davis spots Benjamin Rosamond's 1 World timelapse...

NYC Taxi ~ A Day In The Life of a Hackney

Kottke spots A day in the life of NYC taxis...

"This clever and well-done visualization shows where individual NYC taxis picked up and dropped off their fares over the course of a day."

Urban Giants ~ Manhattan's Telecom Palaces!

Kuriositas spots Telx documentary Urban Giants...

"Two of the most advanced telecommunications buildings in the world, at 60 Hudson Street and 32 Avenue of the Americas in Lower Manhattan. Nearly a century later, they remain among the world's finest Art Deco towers -- and cornerstones of global communication. This is their history."

Above Central Park ~ Iconic Manhattan Acres!

DM spotlights aerial photos, including Sergey Semenov's shot of Central Park!

Citi Bike Rides ~ 48hrs, 75Krides, NYC Cycles!

Kottke spots Jeff Ferzoco and team's visualization of 48 hours of Citi Bike Rides in mid-September...

Beneath Cities ~ Decaying Infrastructure & Death

In NYTimes, Patrick McGeehan, Russ Buettner, and David Chen share scandal: Beneath Cities, a Decaying Tangle of Gas Pipes...

"It is a danger hidden beneath the streets of New York City, unseen and rarely noticed: 6,302 miles of pipes transporting natural gas. [...] The perilous state of New York City’s underground network, one of the oldest in the country [is] a glaring example of America’s crumbling infrastructure. [...] Communities across the country have been struggling to replace thousands of miles of these old, metal pipes with pipes made of plastic or specially coated steel that are less prone to leakage. Few, however, face as daunting a challenge as New York City. To replace all of the old mains in its network right now would cost as much as $10 billion, Con Edison estimates. Much of that expense would fall on the residents and businesses that use the gas for heating and cooking. [...] “Some of this aging infrastructure has reached the end of its useful life” [...] “It’s a major ordeal in a city like New York to just start digging things up.”

Yikes, surely there's a better way to design, build, and maintain cities?! Here's the mess below as visualized by Larry Buchanan's infographic and Robert Stolarik's photos...

Building Over Rails ~ Brookfield's MWest Anime...

Gothamist's Jen Chung spots Brookfield's anime of how they're building over rails in their Manhattan West development near Hudson Yards...

Hudson Yards ~ Ross' NYC Development Vision

Forbes' Morgan Brennan speaks with Related Cos founder Stephen Ross about the his Hudson Yards development in NYC... P.S. Here's update piece in the DM on The new Manhattan: New York's skyline to be transformed.

Verdant Inhabitats ~ Green Design Delighters!

Always good to start new year with a healthy dose of Inhabitat's best!