![Writer Jonathan Lethem poses for a photo against a gray background](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/lethem-getty.jpg)
Jonathan Lethem Returns to the Scene of the Crime Jonathan Lethem Returns to the Scene of the Crime
In his new novel, the bard of Boerum Hill interrogates the brutal truths of gentrification.
Oct 27, 2023 / Ross Barkan
![The color of money: A new luxury condominium building on Orchard Street on the Lower East Side of New York.](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/adolph-reed-column-getty.jpg)
Want to Turn the Pitiless March of Gentrification Into a Parable of Progress? Want to Turn the Pitiless March of Gentrification Into a Parable of Progress?
The New York Times shows just how it's done.
Apr 4, 2023 / Column / Adolph Reed Jr.
![Searching for Local Identity in “The Bear” and “Chicago Party Aunt”](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/TBR_13.jpg)
Searching for Local Identity in “The Bear” and “Chicago Party Aunt” Searching for Local Identity in “The Bear” and “Chicago Party Aunt”
The FX drama and Netflix animation both attempt to embody the city of Chicago. That’s an increasingly difficult task when the city itself is a jumbled simulacrum of its own past.
Aug 25, 2022 / Ryan Zickgraf
![Black Flame Hunters](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Black-Flame-Hunters-for-Larry-Bumenthal-credit-Rick-Swig1-149K.jpg)
Jazz Fest Is Back. Let’s Dance. (But It’s Complicated.) Jazz Fest Is Back. Let’s Dance. (But It’s Complicated.)
Beyond the confines of a beloved annual event, the future of live music in New Orleans remains unsettled.
May 6, 2022 / Larry Blumenfeld
![Washington Square Park protest](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-1325844036-1.jpg)
Welcome to Washington Square Park, Capital of Woke Bohemia Welcome to Washington Square Park, Capital of Woke Bohemia
A vibrant new youth scene is taking shape in Greenwich Village. Some people want to shut it down.
Jul 30, 2021 / Richard Goldstein
![The New York Story Is Not the Real Estate Story](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/the-vessel-hudson-yards-img.jpg)
The New York Story Is Not the Real Estate Story The New York Story Is Not the Real Estate Story
Massive overdevelopment and warehousing apartments for the wealthy were killing New York even before the pandemic. So why are none of the mayoral candidates talking about that?
May 26, 2021 / Robert Neuwirth
![Jing Fong workers solidarity](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/jing-fong-workers-ap-img.jpg)
Jing Fong Couldn’t Survive. Will Manhattan’s Chinatown? Jing Fong Couldn’t Survive. Will Manhattan’s Chinatown?
The pandemic has tipped the scales even further in favor of landlords over workers.
Mar 8, 2021 / Wilfred Chan
![tati](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/GettyImages-967280330.jpg)
The Death of Working-Class Paris The Death of Working-Class Paris
As the rich transform France’s capital into a piggy bank and playground, the future of the city hangs in the balance.
Nov 10, 2020 / Cole Stangler
![NK Jemisin](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/jemisin-otu-img.jpg)
N.K. Jemisin Wrote a Sci-Fi Ode to New York City—Then It Became Reality N.K. Jemisin Wrote a Sci-Fi Ode to New York City—Then It Became Reality
We talked to the award-winning writer about The City We Became, her latest groundbreaking, world-quaking book, and why it feels so prescient.
Aug 4, 2020 / Q&A / Jessica Suriano
![Woman with yellow umbrella walking through Miami](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/florida-flooding-img.jpg)
Florida’s Flooded Future: ‘Retreat While There’s Still Time’ Florida’s Flooded Future: ‘Retreat While There’s Still Time’
With sea levels rising, Miami will be underwater by the end of the century.
Jun 8, 2020 / Laura Raim