Pushing past 2020: Looking for Equitable Solutions to Post Covid New York City

With a year of protests against racial injustice, police brutality, and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on human health and the economy, New York City is witnessing a decline that is generating concern about whether it will recover. The City weathered downturns from the 1950s to the 1980s, when the population dropped as a result of white flight and ill-conceived urban-renewal projects. But COVID-19 in New York, the city with the deadliest outbreak has heightened the fear of density and led many city dwellers to work remotely while posing questions - once unthinkable: do we need cities, do we need New York City?

Now that the horizon of vaccines appears to be on the verge of bringing an end to social distancing restrictions, will the City come back to normal? Will this be an opportunity to rethink urban architecture and streetscapes for more pedestrian use? Will swaths of empty office buildings be repurposed as residential buildings? Will climate change and the reduction of long commutes lead to Anne Hildalgo’s “15-minute city” where all people can access daily needs within a short walk or bike ride? Will new and renovated affordable housing become socially equitable to ensure that all types of people are able to live and work there with access to broadband internet, fresh food, public health, and economic growth? Will public spaces become smart and flexible to accommodate all of the City’s needs?