Anna Kodé

I'm a features reporter for The New York Times, where I cover culture, the built environment and urban life. I’m drawn to stories that are hidden in plain sight and allow us to re-examine subjects we thought we already knew.

I'm also an adjunct professor at NYU and the author of Unseen Places, a book about observation. Preorder it at Barnes & Noble, Amazon or wherever you get your books.

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Reporting

• • Ode to the New York Dive Bar


• • The Quintessential Urban Design of ‘Sesame Street’


• • A Real Estate Queen and the Secret She Couldn’t Keep Hidden


• • The Politics of Brutalism


• • Not Just a Fence: The Story of a Stainless Steel Status Symbol


• • A Tap-to-Pay Society is Leaving These New Yorkers Behind


• • The Fight to Save the Style of Postwar Optimism


• • Why Is Syracuse Such a Haven for Legendary Writers?


• • Columbia University Locked Its Campus and Unleashed a Contentious Debate


• • Barbie, Her House and the American Dream


• • The Chrysler Building, the Jewel of the Manhattan Skyline, Loses Its Luster


• • Yoko Ono and the Dakota


• • A Beauty Treatment Promised to Zap Fat. For Some, It Brought Disfigurement.


• • America, the Bland


• • Joan Didion’s Life in Objects


• • Beard Crusader


• • Where ‘Seinfeld,’ a $120,000 Chandelier and a Mysterious Church Converge

Personal Essays

• • Stop Ignoring All the Mundane Miracles in Your Life


• • My First Second Watch


• • The Art and Ritual of Rangoli

Video

• • The Urban Design of Sesame Street


• • The Evolution of New York City Benches


• • How Columbia Touched Off a Debate Over Public Space


• • What Bodegas Mean for New York


• • The Ups and Downs of an N.Y.C. Landmark


• • A Futuristic Style of Architecture Is Endangered


• • This Town of Spiritualists Believes Death Does Not Exist

Press and Awards

• • Ochs Award for Best Rising Journalist at The New York Times 2026


• • National Association of Real Estate Editors, Best Architecture Story 2026


• • National Association of Real Estate Editors, Best Multi-Platform Package 2026


• • Deadline Club, Feature Reporting Finalist 2024


• • Good Morning America


• • 99% Invisible


• • WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show


• • Times Insider: How a Reporter Turned an Article Into a Manhattan Walking Tour


• • Times Insider: Living in a Barbie World, Through the Decades

Appearances and Readings

• • Object Lessons, Urban Design Forum


• • Building Affordability, Columbia GSAPP


• • A Spotlight on Asian American Culture Today, The Times Center


• • Cocktails & Conversation, Center for Architecture


• • Modern House Day Tour & Symposium, The New Canaan Historical Society


• • Substack 'Hate Reads', The River

© Anna Kodé