The Living City Project - CityGAP 2026

The Living City Project’s CityGAP is an outdoor, project-based, experiential program for high school graduates, college students, and young adults ages 18 – 22 in New York City. Through the gap year program (which operates on a “semester” basis), students are put into cohorts, paired with mentors and counselors, and introduced to experts as they engage with New York as a class, a laboratory, a studio, and a community. CityGap offers a meaningful, collaborative experience for students seeking to do hands-on work with peers and expert partners tackling relevant real-world challenges in New York City.

CityGAP partners with city officials, artists, policymakers, journalists, performers, activists and entrepreneurs, and participants work on both group and individual projects, culminating in a portfolio of original work in a variety of media. The program is limited to small groups of 10 – 12 participants, and the mentor to student ratio is 1:4.

Schedule and logistics: Cohorts meet outdoors, in-person three days a week, for 4-6 hours with breaks, and indoors or remotely two days a week for 2-4 hours twice a week. The progran runs 12-14 weeks per semester, with the first two weeks spent exploring the origins of New York City, bonding and collaborating, and learning to navigate the NYC street grid, transportation network, architecture, and social geography. The structure then transitions into a Group Project (shaped by participant input and interests). The final products may span exhibitions, designs, podcasts, videos and documentaries, models, public art, websites, op-eds, policy proposals, performance, walking tours, etc. Each individual participant will also create their own Personal Project, and the program will conclude with an online and/or in-person exhibition of work, including partners, parents and invited guests.

CityGAP is a member of the Gap Year Association, Independent School Experiential Educators Network, Association of Experiential Educators, and the National Association of College Admissions Counselors. College-focused counseling is a complimentary service offered to participants who plan on applying to college after their gap year or semester.

Though students are not required to be from or live in NYC, they will be responsible for their travel and housing arrangements and expenses.