Chris Goldammer
@floorarearatio
Urban data, mostly NYC. I'm developing citytracker.ai — DMs are open both for data questions about NYC (and everything else) and business inquiries.
You like my block-level maps of NYC? Now live and interactive. potential.nyc/results/block
The missing middle in Queens? Floor-Area-Ratio between 2 and 5.
I do think a lot about how arbitrary zoning is. In Cobble Hill, we will have avenues side by side, both with shops and restaurants. And in Park Slope, we will have a non-shopping buffer between avenues. And we will not change it.
Purple pollution is coming towards NYC. (very unhealthy, 200+) Animation from midnight to 4pm today, using AirNow by EPA.
Pollution during my return to Brooklyn tonight. 1,445 readings over 25 minutes.
I’m reading high pollution near downtown Brooklyn (first image, own measurement) Usually these match nearby meters closely but this one is twice as high. Masks are good in cases like this!
More background. I keep wondering: Could they not have known that they might get blocked? I need someone to tell me the fuller story here. Article: www.crainsnewyork.com/residential-...
Central Park Tower is the tallest cantilevered building in the world. Even very rich people can get blocked from their view of Central Park. So you need a workaround.
Why do I talk about non-transit-oriented development? Below are predictions from Rollet 2025. Floorspace impact of Upzoning near transit: +28% Removing zoning: +71% If we restrict upzoning only to areas near transit, we reduce possible impact by over 50%.
There are many Manhattans. citytracker.ai/images/city_... for 200+ maps in full resolution.
Dear LIRR, why are you making me and everyone in line figure out when peak is? I’m on the platform! It’s Sunday. You know it’s not peak for almost all purchases. Let’s make the most likely action easy.
Here's how the ConEd outage map could work! Current outage map for comparison at seconds 7-12.
I never see areas there. The dots are colored by customers but the aggregates are bot.
There’s a heat wave, there’s power outages, and the ConEd outage map is ... not great. It doesn’t tell you how big the outage is! So I mocked up a better version. First image: Current Second: How it could look! That's my latest blog post: normalforms.substack.com/p/help-my-ma...
And this chart also gives us an idea why the new power line from Canada (CHPE) is important: It provides 1,250 MW. Without this line, we'd be using peaker plants for this. (Very simplified, not a deep energy expert)
Want to understand what the energy grid in NY State is doing today? Start with the raw data: Megawatts by fuel type. High-pollution sources spiking today after noon. My understanding: Other Fossil Fuels = Peaker = Most polluting Source: NYISO dashboard
A little collage for the western part of the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Not 100% exact in terms of location and scale.
Measuring the Ice Cream Truck pollution effect in NYC. A first piece of data using PM1 Next to exhaust: 15 20 ft away: 11 Inspired by @danieltrubman.bsky.social
Staten Island has surprisingly narrow sidewalks for being the most suburban borough.