(research.)  I was in New York in October 2013 and tested out CitiBike, the city’s new bikeshare system. It’s easy and convenient, but the most surprising thing was how much smaller it made the city feel. I used it to zip from my hotel to our office at Union Square, to tour through Greenwich Village, and to get crosstown for lunch on the High Line with my friend Annik La Farge. >> Ryan Gravel

Just before leaving New York, I used CitiBike to explore the proposed East River Blueway, a community-based waterfront planning initiative that would redevelop nearly four miles of Manhattan’s East River waterfront. If built, this catalyst infrastructure project would embrace the elevated FDR Drive from the Brooklyn Bridge north to 38th Street and improve the public’s access and experience along the river. Here’s an article I wrote about it for Art Papers in 2013 called “Transformational Intent.” It’s an interview with Claire Weisz, principal at W,X,Y Architecture and Urban Design. These photos give you a sense of what it looks like today.

Learn more about the East River Blueway at River to the People, and more about the city’s bikeshare program at Citibike.

Map it: at East 34th Street, at East 14th Street, at the Brooklyn Bridge.