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What Do You Want New York City To Look Like Tomorrow? Draw It For Us

By

Jen Carlson

and

Sarah Butler

Published Jul 24, 2020

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An illustration of NYC to fill in (link to larger image below to print out)

 

Sarah Butler / Gothamist

By

Jen Carlson

and

Sarah Butler

Published Jul 24, 2020

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"Any time I try to draw any sort of picture of the future, my pencil runs out of lead," Laurie Anderson told us recently for our ongoing New York City Tomorrow series. We kicked off this project on Monday with an illustration — a colorful and hopeful interpretation of what New York City could look like in the future.

Now, incase your pencil has also run out of lead in this era of uncertainty, we're offering the above outline, a starting point for New Yorkers to fill in with your own vision. (CLICK THIS LINK FOR A LARGER IMAGE TO PRINT.) This, and the original illustration for the series, was created by Sarah Butler, who provided these words on the project:

When I started this project I didn't have any great ideas or direction for how I was going to illustrate this concept that editor Jen Carlson proposed: New York in the future, after COVID — the rebirth of our wounded city. I felt, and still feel, so much fear and uncertainty that it was difficult for me to try to envision something positive emerging from this catastrophe. I have had friends, colleagues and neighbors lose loved ones to this virus. I've watched beloved neighborhood businesses shutter. Three of my best friends gave up their apartments and moved out of NYC in the same week. So I decided to just start drawing.

I don't live in Manhattan but that city skyline needed to be my jumping off point — it has always taken my breath away when gliding across the Brooklyn Bridge late at night, or when the F train rumbles up to Smith-9th Street. To me it inspires an optimistic feeling that greatness is always possible. I also started thinking about the hopeful changes that have gained momentum in the last few months — the power of the Black Lives Matter movement; bike lanes expanding to entire avenues; our city parks offering a release from isolation; outdoor dining overtaking parking spots.

I decided to treat Manhattan's skyscrapers as mini canvases for these possibilities. I invite Gothamist readers to create their own Utopia in and around these outlines. What did I miss? What would make your New York a place you will never want to leave? If you don't know, I encourage you to just get out some crayons or paints or a ballpoint pen and just start drawing.

For further inspiration, here is Butler's original version:

Sarah Butler / Gothamist

Show us how you want to see New York City in the future. Grab the black & white image at the top of this story, print it out and fill it in with words, colors and drawings. Share your finished pieces on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #NewYorkCityTomorrow, or email it to us at [email protected].

Looking for further inspiration? One would-be participant in this project, who was unable to speak with us officially because of professional restrictions, offered us a reframed question early on, which we then built this series around: "Imagine that you did not know who you would be in a new New York — what race, what age, what religion, what gender or orientation, whether you would be with or without a disability, healthy or unhealthy, what national origin, your political views, what zip code you would live in. If you had no idea what or who you might be, what talents you might have or lack, then what sort of New York would you devise?"

Tagged

future nyc

New York City Tomorrow

Jen Carlson

Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.

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Sarah Butler

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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