The comedian John Oliver once referred to New York’s Port Authority Bus Terminal as “the single worst place on Planet Earth.” Others have colorfully described it as Dante’s Inferno of public transportation, a shambolic mess, a national joke, and “if hell had a hell.” The 250,000 daily commuters who pass through the overcrowded facility, which suffers from confusing layouts and a tangle of overhead ramps, are keen to agree. Though the Port Authority has entertained proposals to modernize its aging terminal, the multibillion-dollar price tag has often been dismissed as too expensive.

Thanks to a new government incentive to spur development as part of Covid-19 recovery, an ambitious proposal to bury the Port Authority may see the light. The global infrastructure giant AECOM and architecture firm STV have revealed plans to move the terminal underground in a “soaring public space” that’s covered with a glass roof, renamed Hudson Terminal Market, and outfitted with stores, restaurants, and connections to the 7 and ACE subway lines. One standout feature includes the construction of subterranean tunnels that will eliminate the unsightly tangle of overhead ramps nearby; it would also get rid of 41st Street between 8th and 9th Avenues to create a “superblock” complete with a landscaped public park, office towers, and apartment complexes.

The city has incentives to greenlight the project—it technically owns the land, and could profit from selling air rights to developers who would build on parts of the superblock. The site is zoned for about six million square feet of development without needing public review. Few other logistical details are available, but it goes without saying that keeping the current facility in operation while excavating space for a new terminal will present major challenges.

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When: Until Jan. 24, 2021

Where: Bronx Museum of the Arts

What: In 2009, when artist Sanford Biggers was commissioned by the cultural project Hidden City Philadelphia to produce work for the Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, a stop on the Underground Railroad, he became intrigued by the long-debated historical narrative that quilts doubled as signposts along the escape route.

“The idea struck me that Harriet Tubman was an astronaut, navigating the stars, night skies, and her surroundings in the quest for freedom,” he says. “After reading additional Underground Railroad lore that posited quilts may have been embedded with code and used as maps, I began to search out quilts from the 1800s and add new layers of code through mark-making, painting, cutting, collaging, and reconstruction.” More than 60 will display in “Codeswitch,” the first survey of his quilt works, which signal their original creator’s intent as well as new layers of meaning through his artistic interventions.

German multidisciplinary designer Simon Kaempfer’s hyperreal digital environments are a reprieve from the mundanity of life during quarantine. “I always imagine it as some kind of alternative reality where you can escape everything,” he says from his current home in Barcelona. “It’s very pleasing and relaxing to create these colorful, surreal dreamscapes.” The 25-year-old, who specializes in illustration and animation, elicits that type of response by rendering euphoric scenes filled with airbrushed colors and soft textures, equal parts familiar and fantastical.

Timelessness and subtlety fuel Chris Halstrøm, whose furniture eschews trends for rich textural details and universal gestures of warmth. These understated features define the Danish designer’s latest series, Kin for Design Within Reach, a finely crafted collection of wooden chairs and stools whose understated details lend feelings of familiarity and comfort.

Henzel Studio is a rug manufacturer whose ethos is based on the artistic practice of Calle Henzel. Over the past two decades, he has translated his artistic work into the medium at hand, positioning Henzel Studio as one of the world’s most progressive rug brands. Today, Henzel collaborates with leading contemporary artists and estates.

Surface Says: Art and craftsmanship unite in Henzel Studio’s collaborations. Works by the likes of Nan Goldin, Helmut Lang, and Marilyn Minter are woven into imaginative, gallery-worthy rugs.

This animated short explores the detrimental impacts of plastic pollution.

Dolly Parton’s comments on Black Lives Matter get the mural treatment.

Using AR, Mario Kart’s latest version brings the race to your living room.

The Moscow bakery Tortik Annushka’s cakes are almost too artful to eat.