Places · new-york-lens

Place lens: New York

New York in 2048 keeps its shape and its arguments. The subway and buses move people fast until a station entrance, a service change, a bridge crossing or a flooded low street matters; some closed entrances were never properly sealed. A waterfront block may have flood gates, badge-gated industrial yards and private loading docks; an inland block has none of that. An old brownstone can share a wall with a new tower whose lobby remembers every visitor, and new towers are still short of the affordable flats they promised. The old public housing towers have their own rules, rooftop antennas and scaffolding older than some of the kids under it. Downtown cores are glass, courts and cameras. Boroughs feel like separate cities, and crossing a bridge with a bag is a job in itself.

• Offset service tower
• Contrasting sill repair
• Occupied tower balcony frame