Tag: Architecture

  • Bridge the Gap

    Bridge the Gap

    New York City, arguably the world’s premier global city, is the largest in the richest country in the world. The metropolitan region hosts 23+ million people, more than the population of Australia, and New York’s population continues to rise. The MTA network spans 5,000 miles, with more than 2,000 miles of track—enough to stretch from New York…

  • A Riel (Estate) Plan for NYC

    A Riel (Estate) Plan for NYC

    Riel, 2015 With more people in the metropolitan area than in the entire continent of Australia, New York continues to harbor diverse and creative opportunities due to its inherent dynamism and density, catalyzed by the MTA. But climate change is already threatening the resiliency of the region’s infrastructure, while our region’s political climate and security…

  • International Urban Development and Transportation

    International Urban Development and Transportation

    T.O.D. should not only be about transit-oriented development, but about transit-owned development. When I was a child, I was the first in my classroom to notice that the World Trade Center (Tower 1) had been struck, and I later helped to close our windows, watching as it collapsed. The World Trade Center was a transit-owned, transit-oriented development,…

  • Thinking Beyond Buildings

    Thinking Beyond Buildings

    Public transportation authorities often do not control zoning and land use laws, and they also operate amidst a sea of privately-owned land. In fact, America’s land use laws are arguably reflected by its LEED incentives. The LEED Neighborhood Development Rating System rightly incentivizes LEED construction in transit-oriented communities by prioritizing an access to quality transit, with…

  • Reforming the MTA

    Reforming the MTA

    Please feel free to view my Capstone: Bridging the Transportation Finance Gap: Planning Beyond Boundaries for a Connected 21st Century Please also feel free to view my Senior Honors Thesis: (Re)New Your City, New York City: Transporting Transformation Hubs New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is constantly running trains, but it is also constantly running…

  • (RE)New York City

    (RE)New York City

    Riel, 2014 . (Re)New Your City, New York City: Transporting Transformation Hubs America’s public transportation agencies cannot be profitable in the 21st century due to a political economy that isolates these agencies from municipal zoning and land use policies, and from forming value capture mechanisms – from tax increment financing to joint development and the…