Manhattan

chains

FORTY-TWO STARBUCKS CLOSED IN NEW YORK AND THE NEXT CHAIN ARRIVED WITH A FRAUD RECORD

Oct 21, 2026

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4 min read

FORTY-TWO STARBUCKS CLOSED IN NEW YORK AND THE NEXT CHAIN ARRIVED WITH A FRAUD RECORD

Luckin Coffee opened twenty-two Manhattan counters in fifteen months on ten-year leases, and the price gap that was supposed to justify it is twenty cents.

Manhattan

The City Inspected The Tree In Early September. The Limb Came Down On September 11.

Sep 28, 2026

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4 min read

The City Inspected The Tree In Early September. The Limb Came Down On September 11.

A pin oak outside the Museum of Natural History passed a Parks check, then dropped a limb on the vendor working beneath it. The inspection record was public the whole time.

Food Culture

ACROSS THE STREET FROM EACH OTHER ON LEXINGTON ONLY ONE ROOM HAS TO PROVE IT

Sep 21, 2026

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4 min read

ACROSS THE STREET FROM EACH OTHER ON LEXINGTON ONLY ONE ROOM HAS TO PROVE IT

One of these two businesses advertises that its food is authentic. It is not the one that changed the most.

Manhattan

NEW YORK WILL STAND IN LINE FOR ANY SMALL EXPENSIVE DESSERT THE INTERNET BLESSES

Sep 4, 2026

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3 min read

NEW YORK WILL STAND IN LINE FOR ANY SMALL EXPENSIVE DESSERT THE INTERNET BLESSES

The $11 cup of sprinkles is real, the line is real, and the version that has sat behind panadería glass for generations never needed either.

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.

Manhattan

NEW YORK IS FINALLY WALKING OUT OF THE RESTAURANTS THAT WERE BUILT FOR THE CAMERA

Aug 23, 2026

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3 min read

NEW YORK IS FINALLY WALKING OUT OF THE RESTAURANTS THAT WERE BUILT FOR THE CAMERA

The feed-first dining room is dying, and the crowd that built it is quietly walking away.

Manhattan

THE FOUNDERS HANDED A UKRAINIAN KITCHEN TO A MAN WHO MARRIED IN

Jul 31, 2026

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3 min read

THE FOUNDERS HANDED A UKRAINIAN KITCHEN TO A MAN WHO MARRIED IN

Three sets of hands on one East Village corner, and the only one who was not Ukrainian held it the longest.

Enforcement

THE CITY MADE VENDING VIOLATIONS CIVIL IN MARCH. THE NYPD KEPT WRITING CRIMINAL SUMMONSES.

Jul 28, 2026

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3 min read

THE CITY MADE VENDING VIOLATIONS CIVIL IN MARCH. THE NYPD KEPT WRITING CRIMINAL SUMMONSES.

The count went up in the same quarter the law was supposed to bring it down.