Curbed’s 20 Most-Read Stories in 2022

Kudos to everyone who survived 300% rent hikes and apartment bidding wars, who only went back to their offices to zoom in with the people who stayed in their pajamas, and who then huddled in sagging plywood sheds with friends and lovers to quickly eat chilling fries bathed in a haze of secondhand weed smoke. You saved our town! Or The Town of Eric Adamsas he likes to say.

This year, our readers followed us as we obsessively delved into the impossible-to-ignore topic of NYC trash (where they go, who gets them there, who turns them into TikTok content), exploring why real estate Park Avenue’s antebellum may be losing its super-elite status and shrinking from Jimmy Fallon’s bizarre decor. You spent a plot of time with the incredible rooms Wendy Goodman has shared with us – including her own apartment, which she had to leave after 27 years. And you clearly couldn’t get enough of our stories of terrible owners, whether from a place of empathy or just outrage. Here’s hoping you don’t find yourself in one in 2023.

Below, you’ll find our list of the 20 most-read articles we’ve published this year, measured by the total number of collective minutes of audience engagement. This is just a small sample of the work done by Curbed, alongside New York’s print edition and its five other digital sites — Spy, the cup, Vulture, food streetand the strategist — and growth newsletter portfolio. To learn more, be sure to subscribe to Curbed Daily Newsletter (with our Design Hunt newsletter) and register.

By Clio Chang

Photo: Thomas Prior

Our reporter gets training on the “juice,” how to protect your shins and keep 12,000 tons of trash a day at bay. read the story ➼

When the pandemic hit, restaurants grabbed their chance to grab 12,000 pieces of the world’s most valuable resource – New York real estate. The city would never be the same again. read the story ➼

Wendy Goodman loved her apartment so much – in a Greenwich Village brownstone, with a working fireplace, overlooking a garden – that she lived there for 27 years. But when the landlord decided to sell the building, she had to leave, forcing him to come to terms with his life there and the things there. read the story ➼

It used to be that buying an apartment at 740 Park meant something. This is no longer the case. Why have the larger downtown co-op apartments been on the market for years? read the story ➼

There’s no premium travel brand like the Aman. And there is no operator like its ruthless Russian-born owner, Vladislav Doronin. read the story ➼

How could a nonprofit now known for its massive sex abuse scandal become the steward of so much precious and endangered natural land? It took a century for the scouts to recover it. It will take much less time to waste. read the story ➼

After years of marriage, Dorothy and Stephen Globus have separated aesthetically. So they built apartments for her and him, side by side. read the story ➼

The question of where our garbage goes is one that politicians don’t like to think about any more than the rest of us. But ignorance is a luxury New Yorkers can no longer afford. read the story ➼

By Rebecca Alter

Photo-Illustration: Lined; Photos: Getty

Live from New York… wow, that’s a bit of a dump, huh? read the story ➼

By Alissa Walker

Photo: Seth Wenig/AP/Shutterstock

The mall, that is. read the story ➼

By Wendy Goodman

Photo: Annie Schlechter

Andrew Alpern bought his apartment in 1962, never intending to leave it. He did not do it. He too, as these 1968 photos show, hasn’t changed much there. read the story ➼

By Owen Long

Photo: Lucia Buricelli

A hilarious insider’s tale of the New York Christmas tree market. An instant holiday classic. read the story ➼

Employers really wanted their workers back in the office for most of the work week. Many of them still stayed at home. read the story ➼

A deep dive into the bitter feud behind the collapse of HFZ Capital and what was meant to be its crowning glory, the debut of Bjarke Ingels’ High Line. read the story ➼

This is our last year with the ubiquitous and imposing machine. The fact that it (unlike many aspects of the subway system) elicits beautiful emotions has a lot to do with the exceptionally thoughtful people who designed it. read the story ➼

By the editors

Photo: Pelle Cass for New York Magazine

Our annual celebration of why many New Yorkers – despite everything – can’t imagine living anywhere else. read the story ➼

By Christophe Bonanos

Photo: Ira Berger/Alamy Stock Photo

Starbucks has threatened to close all of its restrooms, further exacerbating the extreme shortage of public restrooms. read the story ➼

By Alissa Walker

Photo: @pixelnull/Twitter

Before Elon Musk took over Twitter, CES visitors could watch his big ideas crumble and burn in real time. read the story ➼

By Brock Colyar

Photo: Lily Burgess

When niche internet celebrity Caroline Calloway turned 30, she decided to leave town and her ten-year-old apartment. But first, she embarked on a series of chaotic farewell dinners. read the story ➼

By Bridget Read

Photo-Illustration: Lined. Photo: Google

When the story of a landlord with a ‘sex’ clause in his lease went viral, we spoke to a tenant rights lawyer who couldn’t have been less shocked. read the story ➼