Podcast Summary: What Should Be On A Digital Map Of NYC?

Podcast: All Of It (WNYC)
Host: Alison Stewart
Date: November 17, 2025
Guests: Noel Hidalgo (Executive Director, BetaNYC) and Steven Romalewski (Director, CUNY Mapping Service)

Episode Overview

This episode explores New York City's recent ballot proposal to consolidate thousands of disparate, often paper-based borough maps into a unified, digital city map. Host Alison Stewart is joined by civic tech and mapping experts Noel Hidalgo and Steven Romalewski, as well as caller participation, to discuss the significance, challenges, and opportunities a digital NYC map brings.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Why Unify NYC's Maps?

[03:30–04:54]

• Current Situation: NYC’s five boroughs each maintain their own maps (about 8,000 total), administered by a handful of borough president staffers.
  • Noel Hidalgo: "Each borough president has one staff member. So in total, there's probably five people maintaining maps."
• The New Approach: One agency, likely the Department of City Planning (DCP), will digitize, maintain, and standardize the map, centralizing resources and improving data quality.
  • Noel Hidalgo: "We're really hoping...we have an opportunity to streamline those resources, align those resources, and make sure maps work for all New Yorkers, not just for property developers."
• Steven Romalewski: Points to decades-long efforts to digitize city data already underway, noting that this move formalizes and coordinates those advances.

2. The Value of Citywide Digital Mapping

[04:54–07:11]

• Accessibility & Accountability: Digital maps enhance public access to information, supporting planning, city management, and creating opportunities for residents to participate in mapping underrepresented areas.
  • Noel Hidalgo: "If we are looking at advances within artificial intelligence or any other types of analytical infrastructure, we need to have clean and accessible data."
• "You can’t manage what you can’t measure" is invoked to highlight that only with accurate, accessible data can effective city management happen.

3. What Problems Does the Unified Map Solve?

[07:51–09:48]

• Under-mapped Public Spaces: Sidewalks, parks, and other pedestrian areas—especially in lower-income communities—are less likely to be captured in current digital maps.
  • Noel Hidalgo: "Those places that are in lower socioeconomic communities tend to not be mapped."
• Integration with Initiatives: Programs like Open Streets and "Mapping for Equity" can help address disparities by teaching New Yorkers to map their own neighborhoods.

4. The Debate: Paper Maps vs. Digital Maps

[09:48–12:39]

• Call-in Comment: Alan from Brooklyn urges maintaining paper map “substrates” alongside digital, due to concerns about digital manipulation.
• Steven Romalewski: Assures that official agencies can (and do) maintain both, giving the example of zoning maps once considered impossible to digitize, but now standard.
  • Steven Romalewski [11:45]: “Having a digital representation ... makes it more easily accessible for people to view the information, to take that digital data and incorporate it into other applications.”
• Cartographer Fingerprints: Noel notes that "mapmakers have historically put in inaccuracies to more or less fingerprint their maps." [12:39]

5. Listener Suggestions: What Should Be Included On the Map?

[13:39–14:31]

• Updated FEMA and flood-risk maps due to climate change
• Information on street widths to inform urban redesign
• Utility infrastructure (power, sewer, water, cable, telecoms) consolidated on one map

6. Risks: Hacking & Data Manipulation

[14:20–15:26]

• Caller Concern: Could the map be hacked?
• Noel Hidalgo: "Anything can be hacked... The point is making sure there are platforms to correct inaccurate data."
  • Emphasizes systems for public feedback and correction are critical for trust and accuracy.

7. Illustration: How Status Quo Fails

[15:26–17:11]

• Current Example: Multiple city agencies and utilities must bring their own paper maps to coordinate underground infrastructure repairs.
  • Steven Romalewski [16:37]: "All of the different utilities come, all of the different city agencies come and they all show up with their paper maps and they compare notes... that's been happening for decades."
  • A unified digital map would make these collaborations more efficient.

8. Limits and Next Steps: What’s Actually Being Digitized?

[19:13–20:52]

• Caller Bill: Wonders if MTA train reroute mapping will be included.
• Steven Romalewski: Not yet—initial efforts will focus on street and property maps, but the digital mapping infrastructure could eventually enable integration of subway, utility, and other data.

9. Address Assignment & Postal Logistics

[20:52–22:32]

• Digitization helps address miscommunications between boroughs and postmasters, improving mail delivery and supporting population growth.
  • Noel Hidalgo: "If you ever had any problem, if you lived in a new building and you had problems with your mail being delivered, you have experienced this explicit issue..."

10. Accountability, Privacy, and Surveillance Concerns

[22:32–27:44]

• Listener Concerns:
  • Will data inaccuracies (e.g., from landlords) be easier to challenge?
  • Could the digital map enable more surveillance, e.g., by ICE?
• Expert Reassurance:
  • Steven Romalewski: "The ballot proposal...doesn't have anything to do with people. ...Any data...can be hacked and manipulated. The question is if there are enough eyes on that data separate from whoever might be trying to hack it or manipulate it, to correct it."
  • Noel Hidalgo: Stresses the need for robust privacy laws, noting federal weaknesses (especially with commercial data brokers) and the importance of city/state-level protections.

11. Optimism & Civic Engagement

[27:44–28:43]

• Caller Olivia: Expresses optimism about the administration’s commitment to civic excellence, community-informed use of the new mapping infrastructure, and responsible privacy protections.

12. What Would Success Look Like?

[28:43–30:13]

• Steven Romalewski: Success is a digital map coordinated across boroughs and agencies, enabling better city service delivery, redrawal of outdated boundaries, and more informed public discussion.
• Noel Hidalgo: Mentions BetaNYC's own "Boundaries Map" tool to highlight overlapping political/administrative boundaries.

13. OpenStreetMap GeoWeek & Community Mapping

[30:36–32:08]

• OpenStreetMap (OSM): Described as "the wiki of maps"—community-contributed, transparent, and editable by anyone.

• OSM GeoWeek: Annual events to encourage crowd-sourced mapping; public invited to participate and shape local information.

• NYC Open Data Week: Celebration and hackathon for NYC’s data community, furthering transparency and digital literacy.

  • Noel Hidalgo [30:47]: "OSM is the wiki of maps... It runs a very similar methodology as Wikipedia, so there's a very concrete way of adding information."

Key Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Centralizing and Standardizing:
  • "If you can't measure it, you can't map it, you can't manage it still holds true in the 21st century." – Noel Hidalgo [04:25]
• On Digital Manipulation:
  • "Mapmakers have historically put in inaccuracies to more or less fingerprint their maps." – Noel Hidalgo [12:39]
• On Data Privacy:
  • "We need governments that actually follow the law, and then we also need stronger laws to ensure that our privacy and information [are] protected within the 21st century." – Noel Hidalgo [27:40]
• On Optimism:
  • "I think there are a lot of ways that this map can sort of lend itself towards the people who want to do those things, having the information to be able to get it done." – Olivia (caller) [28:25]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Value & Purpose of Digital Map: 03:30–04:54
• Solving Problems in Public Space Mapping: 07:51–09:48
• Paper vs. Digital Map Debate: 09:48–12:39
• Listener Suggestions (Flood Risk, Utilities, etc.): 13:39–14:31
• Hacking & Data Integrity: 14:20–15:26
• Example: Underground Infrastructure Fiasco: 15:40–17:11
• Address Assignment & Postal Services: 20:52–22:32
• Privacy/Surveillance Discussion: 22:32–27:44
• What Success Looks Like: 28:51–30:13
• OpenStreetMap and Community Mapping: 30:47–32:08

Tone and Takeaways

The tone is thoughtful, civic-minded, and occasionally playful (“pesky cartographers”). Guests are optimistic but clear-eyed about challenges, especially regarding privacy and the logistics of implementation. Callers contribute concerns about data integrity, surveillance, and the practicalities of digital mapping, but several express hope that a digital map will empower both citizens and city officials alike. The episode closes by emphasizing ongoing efforts to democratize map-making through OpenStreetMap and NYC community data events.

In summary:
A unified digital map of NYC is seen as a crucial step forward—making city data clearer, more accessible, and more manageable, while bringing up important debates about data integrity, privacy, civic engagement, and the technical realities of such a massive project. The episode underscores the need for continued engagement from government, technologists, and citizens to ensure maps serve everyone—preserving both accuracy and transparency for all New Yorkers.