Hi.
Welcome to my website. There is writing here for all ages. Enjoy!
Welcome to my website. There is writing here for all ages. Enjoy!
Hello and welcome!
I’m a journalist, teacher and researcher who primarily focuses on cities—their streets, spaces, people, challenges and opportunities. Below are my current endeavors, notable works, and other reportage. (My newsletter Streetbeat tries to cover the rest.)
Current Endeavors
Teaching cities-focused undergraduate reporting at New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute.
Serving as the Senior Fellow for Climate & Opportunity at Center for an Urban Future, one of New York City’s leading policy organizations.
Co-authoring a sequel to the 2015 preeminent planning guide, Tactical Urbanism: Short-Term Action for Long-Term Change.
Working on numerous features & magazine stories for various outlets about the biggest issues facing cities today, including a regular features for Bloomberg CityLab and The New York Times.
Chairing 31st Avenue Open Street Collective, Inc., a nonprofit that helps run a pop-up public space on weekends in Western Queens.
Notable Projects
In reporting:
Reported countless breaking news stories and features for The New York Times, including: the movement of migrant children hooded through LaGuardia Airport; hiking (yes, hiking) in New York City; fare cut protests of Uber drivers; a makeshift movie theater in a neighbor’s backyard; Vision Zero efforts in Jersey City; and a tragic fire in Manhattan’s East Village.
Shortlisted for ‘Best Feature’ in the 2020 Active Travel Media Awards, with the publication of my CityLab article on street design’s accessibility problem.
Helped lead coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic on Oxford Urbanists as Regional Focus Editor, which saw readership skyrocket.
For VICE:
Spearheaded “Tunnel Vision,” a weekly series on the crumbling state of New York City’s mass transit.
Led the “The Future of Incarceration” series, which detailed efforts by local advocates to end mass incarceration once and for all.
For NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute:
Created the “Advanced Reporting: The City” course at NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, a new capstone-level reporting class on the greatest challenges facing cities today.
Revived “Greening the City: How Can NYC Fight the Climate Crisis?” a summer course at the same school as above focused on city-based solutions to climate resilience, which later influenced the creation of “The Beat: Climate City,” an advanced reporting course.
Helped administer the Reporting the Nation, Reporting New York graduate program.
Organized AJO in NYC, the first-ever in-person conference for the American Journalism Online graduate program, and lead events department-wide for a full calendar year.
For Center an Urban Future, a leading New York City think tank:
Authored “A New Leaf,” a policy report on the state of New York City’s parks infrastructure. The report helped inspire the largest single-year infusion of funds into the NYC Parks Department in recent history.
Authored “Stretching New York City’s Capital Dollars,” a research brief on streamlining the slow capital process in New York at a time of crisis. The research prompted the passage of three City Council bills.
Authored “Branches to Recovery,” an exhaustive report on how New York City can truly harness branch libraries to recover in the pandemic’s wake. The research prompted funding of more teen libraries.
Led the work on and authored two installments of the Economic Opportunity Lab, a series of policy briefs for New York’s next policymakers. Our work on re-engaging adult learners was credited with the start of CUNY Reconnect and LaGuardia Community College’s Credits for Success.
Authored commentaries on topics like expanding micro-mobility options in New York City, which inspired the city to bring shared e-scooters to Queens for the first time; using the opportunity to decarbonize CUNY’s buildings for renovation and green jobs training; and lowering the barriers for outside groups to care for public spaces.
Authored “Paying for the Growing Needs of NYC’s Parks,” an ideas report for raising recurring revenue for the city’s parks and open spaces. Followed that with a policy brief on a modest ticket surcharge dedicated to parks, and a forthcoming brief on expanding concessions in parks.
Other research:
Nominated by staff to be a Fellow of the Urban Design Forum, where I regularly engage with the organization’s research initiatives and events and serve as a 2024 Rewire Fellow.
Aided the Central Park Conservancy’s Institute for Urban Parks with its initiatives around open space and equity as their first-ever scholar-in-residence.
Created a blueprint on 21st century infrastructure for local policymakers and practitioners for Aspen Digital, the online of the Aspen Institute, one of the most renowned think tanks in the country.
Assembled a guidebook for urban practitioners on COVID-19 transport interventions for MORE, a EU research initiative.
Researched the pathway development of Greater Manchester to zero transport emissions for SUMP-PLUS, a EU research initiative.
Published academic research from UCL’s Transport & City Planning MSc program, including a dissertation on more sustainable “last mile” journeys to suburban rail stations.
Local advocacy:
Spearheaded the formation of the Western Queens Public Realm Agenda.
Served as a juror on AIA New York’s Open Restaurants Innovation competition.
My reporting can be found all over. Including in…
Drift
Ambrosia
Plate Magazine
Research assistance: Michael Shnayerson; the late Wayne Barrett; Biao Xiang (Max Planck Institute).
Along with my friends, I also helped create Potluck Magazine, a literary journal for writing of all shapes and sizes.