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IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 24, 2025
Contact: (212) 839-4850, press@dot.nyc.gov
New Episode of NYC DOT’s Curb Enthusiasm Podcast Features Discussion With NYU Sociologist and Author Eric Klinenberg
Klinenberg is a Professor of Social Science and Director of the Institute for Public Knowledge at New York University and Author of Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life
Klinenberg Discusses Social Infrastructure, the Role Public Spaces Play in Building Stronger Communities, and the Importance of Maintaining Infrastructure and Investing in Public Space, Particularly in Underserved Communities
NEW YORK – New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez today announced the release of the 14th episode of the agency's Curb Enthusiasm podcast. The episode features author and New York University Social Science Professor Eric Klinenberg, who serves as director of the school’s Institute for Public Knowledge. Klinenberg is the author of several books, including Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life. This episode’s conversation focuses on Klinenberg’s concept of social infrastructure, the importance of public spaces in developing and strengthening communities, how public transit provides a real-life civics lesson, and why cities should invest in public space.
“This episode features an engaging conversation with Professor Eric Klinenberg on the importance of building social infrastructure to strengthen communities,” said NYC DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. “The discussion focuses on many key topics ranging from the civic lessons of riding public transportation to the importance of maintaining streets and sidewalks in communities, to the impact DOT’s 34th Avenue Open Street had on community bonding in Jackson Heights.”
Discussing types of social infrastructure, Klinenberg talks about how riding public transit takes people out of their comfort zones and puts them in contact with people with all types of differences, forcing them to co-exist in a peaceful way, while being tolerant and understanding of others. He also notes that sidewalks, streets, and playgrounds are other examples of physical places that shape our capacity to interact, and that investing in them and maintaining them delivers many returns for communities and builds resilience. Klinenberg says neglecting these leads to people retreating to their screens and private spaces, ultimately weakening the community and at times leading to devastating consequences, such as when the communities with the fewest infrastructure and public space amenities suffered the worst during the catastrophic Chicago heatwave in July 1995.
He also discusses the benefits of static – rather than transient - infrastructure and how it allows people to feel like they are part of something bigger in the community sense. He also underscores the need to work on not only community bonding, but also bridging to provide a connective tissue to connect people with different backgrounds and to promote social integration. Klinenberg also acknowledges how the Covid-era launch of NYC DOT’s 34th Avenue Open Street in Jackson Heights led the community to bond together in one of the densest parts of the city, if not the country.
Klinenberg also notes that communities often need to compete and advocate for themselves to be heard in a city of very powerful people and entities. He also discusses the uneven system of how good social infrastructure is often restricted to those with access and wealth, and how spaces not used by the more privileged run the risk of being stigmatized and deemed unsafe, resulting in lack of funding and further deterioration.
The Curb Enthusiasm podcast focuses on issues at the local, national, and international level and features guests who discuss the most consequential transportation work happening all over the globe.
The episode co-hosted by Emily Weidenhof, assistant commissioner of public realm at NYC DOT, and Burkina Morgan, program manager for the agency’s open streets program.
Curb Enthusiasm is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Amazon Music, BuzzSprout and other major streaming platforms. More information is available at nyc.gov/CurbEnthusiasm.
About Eric Klinenberg
Eric Klinenberg is a Professor of Social Science/Sociology and Director of the Institute for Public Knowledge at New York University. He is the author of Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life and several other books, including New York Times #1 bestseller Modern Romance, which he co-authored with Aziz Ansari. His scholarly work has been published in journals including the American Sociological Review, Theory and Society, and Ethnography, and he has contributed to The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, and This American Life.
Eric received his bachelor's degree in history/philosophy from Brown University and both his master's degree in sociology and doctorate/PhD in sociology from University of California, Berkely.
About Emily Weidenhof, Episode Co-Host
Emily Weidenhof is assistant commissioner of public realm at NYC DOT. Emily works closely with community organizations throughout the five boroughs to transform their streets as public space. For over a decade, she has focused on strengthening communities through the creation of plazas and shared streets and retooling the curb lane for innovative programming. She's also played an integral role in NYC DOT's Broadway Vision Plan, which employs a range of tools to reimagine the famed Manhattan corridor from Union Square to Columbus Circle, which now prioritizes pedestrians and cyclists. Emily has worked as an architect and urban designer in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, including at the NYC Department of City Planning.
Emily received her bachelor's degree in architecture from Pennsylvania State University and her master's degree in architecture and urban design from Columbia University.
About Burkina Morgan, Episode Co-Host
Burkina Morgan serves as the program manager for the NYC Department of Transportation’s Open Streets program, where she oversees community partnerships, program operations, and strategies that strengthen public space access across the five boroughs. She brings a background in community health equity and behavioral change communications, grounding the program’s work in approaches that elevate community voice, and public wellbeing.
Burkina’s experience spans international and local public health initiatives. She has worked with UNICEF, the UK’s National Health Service, and Thrive LDN to design health and wellness focused communication interventions. She has also worked in local government in both New York and New Jersey to define and improve community reinvestment policy, support institutional training, and advance infrastructure priorities.
Born and raised in New York City, Burkina is passionate about the intersection of the built environment, the social environment, and health.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Morgan State University and a master’s degree in public health with a concentration in social and behavioral sciences from New York University.