I’ve lived off this line in Brooklyn since 2012, and look out the window almost every time we go over the bridge. And to do it at sunset? Just wow.

Related: The NRA is one of the most successful organizations in my lifetime. They have normalized guns in modern American society, and have normalized gun violence in every corner of the nation. It is a disgrace, but there is increasingly little political will to reverse this.

Two completely new incidents in last 24 hours. We cannot accept this as okay or normal.

People like this popular “Wanye” guy and those like him probably used to be somewhat smart, but fried their brains in the last decade in a swamp of online contrarianism. A lot of people did. A lot of people no longer have honest beliefs, just unsustainable oppositional defiance disorder.

This is at least the 5th violent incident on the NYC subway in the last 7 days or so. Any of these incidents would’ve been considered a major scandal in, say, Tokyo, Copenhagen, Sydney, or any other major city of the world. Progressives can’t turn a blind eye to transit disorder. A real concern!

This man doesn't just lead from the rear. Slava Ukraini!

My tour customers this morning were running late this morning, so I got to kill a significant amount of time inside the main branch of the New York Public Library.  One of the best places in Midtown.

this fact is the definitive judgment on kirk's life

This used to be a parking lot.

Lots of talk in the tour guide community about these new requirements for foreign travelers to submit social media history, etc. And here’s some info from a fellow guide who just came back from Germany. Dystopian nonsense that will kill inbound international travel over the next year.

more people took the subway on a single saturday than live in 16 states.

I cannot even begin to express the anger in my industry at the MANY things Trump has done to suppress international tourism... previously understood as easy money for the US economy (and a cultural win). Never has a President actively harmed his own country more, on so many fronts.

Here’s a few stories about subway violence from just the last week. Regardless of crime being overall down in NYC (good!), there is no other first-world country where our level of transit disorder would be treated as normal. (Plus vandalism, etc) People are right to find it unacceptable here.

The F/M lines have officially swapped today (permanent change) between Queens and Manhattan. Confusingly: This is only weekday day hours! Late nights & weekends, the F will still stop at 21 St-Queensbridge, Roosevelt Island, Lexington Av/63 St, and 57 St. And the M doesn't run north of Delancey.

New NYC Ferry routes go in effect today.

people talk about the dangers of kids being radicalized. but based on who votes for which, it seems pretty clear that adults are much more susceptible to far right radicalization, and that radicalization is much more immediately dangerous.

The most depressing part of this Trump era: The sheer number of institutions (the press, universities, etc) that have *willingly* allowed this man to degrade them. You’d think basic institutional self-preservation would kick in. Nope! Just system after system shrugging as Trump kicks them down.

it’s pretty disturbing how one of the least virtuous people on the planet is also the most powerful

Happy Thanksgiving, all! 🦃🍂

Very conflicted about how I feel about the designation of two new historic districts in Victorian Flatbush. An insanely beautiful neighborhood, but central Brooklyn can’t afford (literally!) to keep freezing itself in amber as rents and home prices skyrocket. www.brownstoner.com/architecture...

The reason why so many foreigners pose as MAGA influencers is because the formula is pretty basic. Post: 1. Immigrants cause 90% of our problems. 2. The other 10% are trans people. 3. Trump is the greatest. 4. All Dems are Marxists who hate America. 5. All news is fake.

In September, I watched the two-part HBO documentary on Billy Joel (recommended!). So I started looking over album covers. I started staring at the “An Innocent Man” cover and knew this was obviously in Manhattan, but I became obsessed with finding the location. Answer: Mercer Street in SoHo.

weird Twitter leftists be like repeatedly stripping copper wiring from the subway, causing delays for millions of people and risking a derailment? not a big deal calling for the person who stripped copper to go to jail? a month in prison for you

I was not the first person to say, but it is fascinating to look back at the far-left anger at Kamala for doing two campaign stops with Liz Cheney, and how everyone is enamored with Mamdani’s successful meeting with Trump. Part of it is leftists hate Democrats, but sexism clearly a factor here.

Spider-Man is an important fictional character because the stories of Spider-Man dare to ask the age old question: what if there was somebody from Queens

Yes, the “just politely ask them to stop” theory of combating antisocial behavior on transit or in public spaces fails, because deep down we all understand that many of the people who behave like that are also likely to become aggressive or violent if confronted.

Also: I can't criticize the Mayor-elect for doing this. The current WH is vile, but he cannot accomplish much if this city is at war with the federal gov't. Letting Trump have this shared charisma fest, and walk away feeling happy, will help a lot of New Yorkers. Uneasy, but smart politics.

Donald Trump clearly has not given up on his 50-year goal of trying to be friends with all the hottest celebs in NYC

The US is losing blue-collar jobs for the first time since the pandemic—year-on-year job losses have hit 59k as manufacturing industries lose jobs at a rapid pace while growth in construction & transportation has nearly zeroed out

I think when Biden was president, Republicans mostly understood that voters wanted an impossible fall in the nominal price level so Trump should promise them that. But now that Trump is president, voters want him to deliver on his impossible promise and he is semi-fucked.

This new ADA entrance to the Church Ave station opened just over a week ago, and the Manhattan-bound elevator is already out of service. The MTA needs to do so much better than this endless shoddy work.

What I hear when I walk into the dementia unit:

“All my haters become my waiters when I sit down at the table of success."

Went to the Cloisters today.

Question for anyone who knows Google Forms or Google Docs well: So a while ago, I added an add-on to a Google form my organization uses regularly: Form Notifications I needed to update some of the notification settings, but now when I click into the add-on, it’s just blank. What’s going wrong?

Walked the entire length of Central Park today, north to south. This was after a long Harlem tour. Did about 31,500 steps today.

It was a truly beautiful mid-November afternoon to walk through Green-Wood Cemetery. 🍂🪦 Definitely in the last week of peak color here in the city.

Maddening trip with @mtalirr.bsky.social this evening. Our train lost 5 minutes in 4 stations simply because the conductor was never in position to operate the doors at stations, too busy collecting tickets like it’s 1895. Every aspect of this railroad’s operation is sloppy and insulting to riders.

Oh.

What a terrible day to know how to read

Your occasional reminder that in NYC the vast majority of criminal cases are not prosecuted. In the Bronx just 22% of felony and 12% of misdemeanor arrests result in a conviction. (Outside NYC, in the rest of the state, the figures are 67% and 52%, respectively.) qualitypolicing.com/same-city-di...

This is what they “inherited” BTW

Really good video about the current state of Penn Station, and what it would really take to fix it: www.nytimes.com/video/nyregi... Here's the full article (gift link): www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

so uhhhhh is anyone going to do anything about the epidemic of drivers just blasting through red lights these days? @timdonnelly.com investigates: nygroove.nyc/why-does-no-...

Good news, but as an MIH high-rise rezoning, feasibility requires very high rents. If we get enough construction that new LIC rents fall below that (not sure the exact number but in my bones I’m feeling…$4,000/mo. 1BR?), construction will stop. This is the problem with inclusionary requirements.

Green-Wood Cemetery on a grey November was full of (fading) Autumn color.

Randy Mastro is going to ratfuck the city as much as possible on his way out the door. The lame duck period is too long.