Public space, active design, and transportation
Physical activity and healthy eating rank among the leading ways to get and stay healthy.
Active design is an applied, evidence-informed approach to improve physical, mental and social health outcomes through the design of the built environment. Active design leverages the expertise of architects, planners, developers, community members, designers, and other stakeholders.
Designing to increase access to high quality parks, pedestrian plazas, sidewalks, quiet spaces, trees and other greenery, secure bicycle storage, gathering spaces, and stairways can have a measurable effect on people’s ability to safely maintain their physical, mental, and social health.
Beach Water Quality
In January 2025, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Bridge and Tunnels (MTABT) started charging a toll for vehicles entering Manhattan’s Congestion Relief Zone (the zone) to reduce traffic within the zone and raise …
New York City’s public transit system has gotten New Yorkers where they need to go and home again for over a century. For our public transit system to continue to move millions of people and to keep us healthy, it’s important …
Health is determined by many factors. People tend to be healthier when they have economic stability, live in quality housing and have access to public space and safe, connected communities. In 2020, the NYC Health Department …
New York City’s modern history of public health starts in the 1600s with the Bureau of Sanitary Inspections, and ever since, sanitation has been an essential part of public health — fighting disease by keeping our city clean. …
A neighborhood is not only shaped by its residents, but also by governmental practices and policies. Some of these have discriminated against residents because of the color of their skin and have segregated neighborhoods …
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This story was recently updated with new data. Every year in NYC between 2017 and 2019 (The most recent data available. See all recorded years of health impacts data here), fine particulate matter pollution from motor …
New York City’s air quality is generally good and has been improving over time. Still, air pollution threatens health: two pollutants, ozone and PM2.5 cause about 2,400 deaths per year in NYC, and thousands more emergency …
On March 20, 2020, New York State announced the COVID-19 shutdown, officially known as NY Pause. In NYC, it lasted until June 8, 2020. With stay-at-home orders in NY and other states, New York City’s air quality changed …
PM2.5—or fine particulate matter—are tiny particles that pollute the air and result from everyday urban activities like driving. PM2.5 can be solid or liquid in form when it is airborne. PM2.5 is the most harmful air …
The COVID-19 public health emergency has changed New York City in many ways—including how we get around the city. As the city continues to adapt to COVID-19, New Yorkers will look for ways to get around that feel …
What happens when NYC stays home? The COVID-19 pandemic upended the lives of all New Yorkers. The outbreak has affected many aspects of our daily life, but there are also less apparent effects, such as impacts on our …
Skip Nav A traffic health threat: air toxics Noise levels that harm health The benefits of cleaner fuel Special monitoring for environmental justice For 10 years, the New York City Community Air Survey (NYCCAS) has measured …
Does the air improve in car-free zones? People often ask us this, and it’s a great question. To answer, we turn to the NYC Community Air Survey, or NYCCAS. NYCCAS is our network of air quality monitors around the city. NYCCAS …
In Part 1, we looked at data from the New York City Community Air Survey (NYCCAS) - a network of about 100 air quality monitors - to see if air quality improves in areas that go car-free. And the answer is yes. NYCCAS tells …