Policy
Issue
Trump: 100 Days and Beyond
What impact is the administration having on cities and the people who live in them?
Recent Highlights
The Bizarro New Deal: Trump’s Dark Inversion of FDR’s First 100 Days
Adam Cohen
Our latest president goes down in history for a destructive and destabilizing start.
Donald Trump vs. the Rule of Law, and New York City
Harry Siegel
His second term is marked by seemingly bottomless hostility to the Constitution and to his hometown — but local leaders aren’t meeting the moment.
Trump’s Executive Orders Have Cities in the Crosshairs
Meryl Chertoff
The Sharpie and the damage done
What Does Trump’s Move to Dismantle the Department of Education Mean for NYC?
Aaron M. Pallas
Separating fears from facts
Is It Time for Cities to Go It Alone?
Richard Schragger
Trump’s assault on local government should usher in a new era of self-sufficiency.
What You Can Do About Trump
A Survey
Some advice for ordinary Americans concerned about the judgment of history
Journal Issues
Issue 1
Gun Violence
Vital City's first issue looks at the problem of gun violence and how it might be solved.
Issue 2
How We Live Together
What is “disorder”? And what should we do about it?
Issue 3
The Power of Place
The indelible mark of neighborhoods
Issue 4
Summertime!
How life changes when things get hot
Issue 5
Nuts and Bolts: Solving Gun Cases
What it takes to reduce firearm violence
Issue 6
On Drugs
How substance use shapes the city
Special Online Issue
Crime: What Happened in 2023, and What 2024 May Bring
Breaking down New York City’s — and America’s — trends in violence and victimization
Special Online Issue
How Many People Should New York City’s Jails Hold?
Everything about Rikers Island and what replaces it depends on the answer
Issue 7
Does Evidence Matter?
Research meets the real world
Special Online Issue
Congestion Pricing*
*The long-anticipated change to Manhattan’s streets now at the mercy of politics
Issue 8
Is the Urban Doom Loop for Real?
The death and life of great American cities (again)
Issue 9
The Subway
Building better transit
SPECIAL ONLINE ISSUE
Inside Rikers
Jails can be safer and more humane
SPECIAL ONLINE ISSUE
The Case Against Eric Adams & Co.
Considering the fix the mayor (and the city) are in, from many angles
SPECIAL ONLINE ISSUE
Crime: Looking Back at 2024, and Ahead to 2025
Breaking down New York City’s, and the nation’s, trends in violence and disorder
Issue 10
Big-City Corruption
Why does it persist? And does anyone know how to solve it?
Issue 11
Nonprofits and the City
Do nonprofits have too much power — or not enough?
Issue 12
What Makes Cities Tick
Vital City at Three
SPECIAL ONLINE ISSUE
Trump: 100 Days and Beyond
What impact is the administration having on cities and the people who live in them?
More to Explore
Gun Violence in New York City: The Data
What to Do About Closing Rikers
In our first special report, public safety veterans Elizabeth Glazer and Michael Jacobson provide a detailed, data-grounded roadmap to close Rikers Island that would simultaneously:
Sunday in the Park with Everybody
We asked radio producer Ike Sriskandarajah and artist photographer Azikiwe Mohammed to capture some of the sights and sounds of Brooklyn’s most iconic greenspace, Prospect Park. What they produced is a sonic-photographic essay, a sensory experience of the people, places and natural beauty at the heart of Kings County.