Argument

New York

Sep 8, 2026

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3 min read

THIS IS WHY NEW YORK SUCKS. WE KEEP CALLING IT THE BEST AND COVERING FIVE BLOCKS

We say greatest food city on earth like it settles something. Tokyo has beaten us on the only agreed metric for eighteen straight years, and we keep filing from the same five neighborhoods.

Occasion Economy

NEW YORK DID NOT STOP EATING OUT. IT STOPPED EATING OUT ON TUESDAY.

Sep 5, 2026

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4 min read

NEW YORK DID NOT STOP EATING OUT. IT STOPPED EATING OUT ON TUESDAY.

The everyday dinner got priced into an occasion, and the room that lived on frequency is the one paying for it.

Platforms

The Punch Card In Your Pocket Now Belongs To The App That Delivers Your Dinner

Sep 4, 2026

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4 min read

The Punch Card In Your Pocket Now Belongs To The App That Delivers Your Dinner

A points program used to be a free coffee. Now it is a channel.

WHY IT SUCKS

THIS IS WHY LOS ANGELES SUCKS. ITS MOST FAMOUS LANDMARK IS A REAL ESTATE AD

Sep 1, 2026

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2 min read

THIS IS WHY LOS ANGELES SUCKS. ITS MOST FAMOUS LANDMARK IS A REAL ESTATE AD

The Hollywood sign was a twenty-one thousand dollar billboard for a subdivision, built to last eighteen months. Twelve miles east of it, a critic won a Pulitzer writing about parking lots.

Wage Theft

THE WORKERS WON A MILLION DOLLAR JUDGMENT AND NEW YORK STILL COULD NOT COLLECT IT

Aug 26, 2026

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4 min read

THE WORKERS WON A MILLION DOLLAR JUDGMENT AND NEW YORK STILL COULD NOT COLLECT IT

New York makes owners personally liable for stolen wages. The deadlines run out before most workers can use it.

Chicago

Aug 26, 2026

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2 min read

THIS IS WHY CHICAGO SUCKS. WE NAMED IT THAT, AND WE WERE WRONG ABOUT DINNER

A New Yorker gave Chicago its nickname in 1952 and put its restaurants on the list of things the city lacked. Six miles north of the Loop, that is still the funniest thing in the book.

WHY IT SUCKS

THIS IS WHY JERSEY CITY SUCKS. IT KEEPS SELLING A PHOTOGRAPH OF US

Aug 18, 2026

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2 min read

THIS IS WHY JERSEY CITY SUCKS. IT KEEPS SELLING A PHOTOGRAPH OF US

Jersey City sells a photograph of the Manhattan skyline as its best feature. Six blocks inland from that pitch is a food corridor a New York critic crossed the river for eleven years ago.