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Topics

Arts
Officials see street art and graffiti as a blight on New York's cityscape landscape. But while the City Council and police continue to wage war on street art, the works themselves have gained increased acceptance.

Civil Rights
In the past few years, the city government has made it harder to take to the street -- or the parks -- and protest. Now, some City Council members hope to change that.

Community Development
The city's workforce development system has helped meet business' needs and placed thousands of workers in jobs. But it sill does not address the needs of many struggling New Yorkers.

Crime
While the police have cracked down on counterfeit goods in New York, law enforcement officials and manufacturers must win the hearts and minds of New York's bargain hunting consumers if they hope to stymie this multi-billion dollar industry.

Demographics
Contrary to their popular image, New Yorkers are more religious than people in many other parts of the country.

Economy
As we "wake up to the recession," James Parrot finds some things we thought were true about the economy have turned out not to be. For example: Huge Wall Street bonuses are good for New York City

Education
The Department of Education has implemented a FitnessGRAM so parents can help their kids shape up. But in an era when standardized tests influence so much of the school day, traditional phys ed classes often fall victim to a lack of time and space.

Environment
Though the city's new gas mileage standards for its black car fleet is admirable, one advocate argues their entire carbon footprint should be regulated.

Finance
Despite the worsening economic situation, the city seems headed for a relatively controversy-free budget season.

Health
The city would like small grocery stores to stock apples and lettuce, along with beer and chips. While everyone agrees on it's good to eat fresh produce, not everyone has embraced the health department's efforts.

Housing
More than 3 percent of all New Yorkers could face foreclosure on their homes over the next few years according to one study. If the figures hold, it could spell disaster not only for the homeowners but for their neighbors, for government and for lenders. What can the city and state do to avoid the crisis?

Immigrants
As protesters calls for boycotts of the Beijing Olympics, many Chinese in New York have become increasingly outspoken in support of the Chinese government and its Olympic Games.

Land Use
Real estate investors are rushing to the shores of the Gowanus Canal, one of the city's most polluted waterways. Can this development save an area known largely for its stench and contamination, or will all the new construction make things even worse?

Law
Battered women often refuse to testify against their abusers. A recent court decision allows some of them to be convicted anyway.

Parks
New York City parks today have far less crime than they once did, but police have not complied with a requirement that would tell all New Yorkers just how safe -- or dangerous -- their parks are.

Social Services
As demand on city food pantries rises, a handful are givig clients more choice about the foods they take home.

Sustainability Watch
Absent from the mayor's sustainability plan is how we'll feed another million mouths. One advocate argues for more locally grown food.

Tech
Verizon announced yesterday it would apply to the city to offer video service in New York. If it gets approval, the communications giant probably will begin installing a fiber optic network throughout the city that could transform the way we use the Internet.

Transportation
The transit system faces a struggle to meet operating expenses and a $17.5 billion deficit in its five-year capital program.

Voting

Special 9/11 Topic Pages:

9/11/01-/02: Our topic page columnists analyze a year of changes in New York City, in everything from arts to civil rights to technology to the environment.

Arts
Martha Hostetter explains how the arts institutions suffered economically, even while artists helped build community.

Civil Rights
Andy Humm assesses the state of civil liberties since 9/11. Also: the 12 vacant seats on the human rights commission; the new local law about same-sex marriages.

Crime/Justice
Julia Vitullo-Martin attempts to answer the question: Are New Yorkers right to feel as safe in the city as anywhere else in the country?

Demographics
Andrew Beveridge looks at the numbers to present a portrait of those who died at 10048, the zip code that was the World Trade Centerƒs alone.

Environment
Eric Goldstein looks at "the World Trade Center cough" and the other environmental health impacts of the World Trade Center attacks.

Finance
Glenn Pasanen explains what he sees as two major results of 9/11: compounding the "long-ignored structural budget deficit," and exposing the "insider decision-making" in the budget process. It is a process, he says, that has resulted in a reduction of funding for education at a time when education is supposed to be a priority.

Health
Maia Szalavitz reports on how New Yorkers have been coping in the year since 9/11, and offers tips from mental health counselors on how to handle the anniversary.

Housing
Some rents are lower, Rebecca Webber points out, but otherwise the story of housing in the past year is one of more homelessness, fewer vacancies, canceled plans for affordable housing, and unknown consequences in the future.

Immigrants
A special section on the anniversary of Sept 11, which affected immigrants in special ways.

Land Use
Laura Wolf-Powers details the land use rebuilding issues that New Yorkers should be watching to figure out where we are going to go from here -- the swap, the lease, the governor, the Olympics, etc.

Parks
"This September 11, people will again find their way to the parks," as they did a year ago, Anne Schwartz says. But if the parks are more important than ever to New Yorkers, one result of 9/11 is a further reduction in their funding.

Social Services
In the year since the terrorist attack, 70 percent of Americans are said to have offered some kind of aid -- and that includes donations of more than $2.2 billion so far. But, as Linda Ostreicher relates, this outpouring of charity is now accompanied by sharp disagreements over what to do with it, stirring up almost as much passion as the disaster itself.

Tech
Laura Forlano reveals the many important lessons that the rebuilding and recovery effort has taught us about the functioning of technological systems during times of crisis.

Voting
Most people have probably forgotten that September 11, 2001, started out as a day when New York City held primary elections. This year's primary election is not just a calendar year away from the attacks, but it comes at the end of a year when the political fortunes of many candidates have been deeply affected by the implications of the tragedy. The attacks were the background of political life in New York starting with last year's mayoral race and continuing through this year's race for governor.

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