State Of The Street

Investigative reporting on policy, power, money, and decisions shaping how New York eats, works, survives, and who really pays the price when the city changes.

State Of The Street

“TAX THE RICH” IS NOT THE PROBLEM. PRETENDING IT'S THE SOLUTION IS.

Jan 29, 2026

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5 min read

“TAX THE RICH” IS NOT THE PROBLEM. PRETENDING IT'S THE SOLUTION IS.

Let’s be clear before anyone twists this. This is not a hit piece on the mayor.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

FROM CUSTOMER TO CONSUMER: HOW NEW YORK TRAINED US TO STOP PUSHING BACK

Jan 28, 2026

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5 min read

FROM CUSTOMER TO CONSUMER: HOW NEW YORK TRAINED US TO STOP PUSHING BACK

New York didn’t lose its edge overnight. It optimized itself into a city where friction disappeared, leverage vanished, and residents quietly stopped acting like customers.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

Jan 25, 2026

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6 min read

WHY DOES NEW YORK HATE CARS SO MUCH?

New York doesn’t hate cars. It hates choosing how space should work, so it monetizes the chaos and lets everyone fight inside it.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

NEW YORK DOESN’T FUND SMALL BUSINESSES. IT FUNDS THE PEOPLE WHO TALK ABOUT THEM.

Jan 23, 2026

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7 min read

NEW YORK DOESN’T FUND SMALL BUSINESSES. IT FUNDS THE PEOPLE WHO TALK ABOUT THEM.

Billions move through programs, grants, and initiatives every year, yet real operators rarely see it because New York built a system that rewards intermediaries, not builders.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

NATHAN’S SELLING FOR $450 MILLION SHOULD MAKE NEW YORK PROUD BUT ALSO UNCOMFORTABLE

Jan 22, 2026

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6 min read

NATHAN’S SELLING FOR $450 MILLION SHOULD MAKE NEW YORK PROUD BUT ALSO UNCOMFORTABLE

Celebrating a rare New York food success while confronting the uncomfortable reality that the city is losing the institutions that once defined its neighborhoods and cultural identity.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

NYC IS GETTING FILLED WITH CLOSURES AND NOBODY IS TALKING ABOUT WHAT’S REALLY HAPPENING

Jan 22, 2026

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7 min read

NYC IS GETTING FILLED WITH CLOSURES AND NOBODY IS TALKING ABOUT WHAT’S REALLY HAPPENING

Let’s cut the bullshit. You saw the headline: thousands of stores and restaurants shutting down across the U.S. in 2025.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

THE MAYOR SAYS HE WANTS TO “EASE” SMALL BUSINESS.HERE’S WHAT HE ACTUALLY NEEDS TO DO.

Jan 22, 2026

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6 min read

THE MAYOR SAYS HE WANTS TO “EASE” SMALL BUSINESS.HERE’S WHAT HE ACTUALLY NEEDS TO DO.

New York doesn’t crush entrepreneurs with one bad rule. It exhausts them with constant management, endless renewals, and systems that never stop demanding attention.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

NEW YORK SUPPORTS INNOVATION ONLY AFTER IT STOPS BEING RISKY

Jan 22, 2026

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6 min read

NEW YORK SUPPORTS INNOVATION ONLY AFTER IT STOPS BEING RISKY

Why the city rewards polished ideas and institutional players while street-level builders absorb the real risk

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

THE LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP NEW YORKERS HAVE WITH RESTAURANT WEEK

Jan 20, 2026

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8 min read

THE LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP NEW YORKERS HAVE WITH RESTAURANT WEEK

Why a program meant to celebrate the city’s food culture now exposes its deepest contradictions, and how it could actually work again.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

WE ALL HATE GENTRIFICATION (JUST NOT THE PARTS THAT MADE LIFE EASIER).

Jan 19, 2026

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7 min read

WE ALL HATE GENTRIFICATION (JUST NOT THE PARTS THAT MADE LIFE EASIER).

Or are we pretending to hate it while quietly enjoying the safety, services, and infrastructure it brought with it?

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

SYSCOLICIOUS IS TURNING US INTO CUSTOMERS, NOT EATERS

Jan 15, 2026

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5 min read

SYSCOLICIOUS IS TURNING US INTO CUSTOMERS, NOT EATERS

How engineered flavor, algorithm menus, and frictionless food quietly rewired how New York eats, chooses, and stops caring.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

THE NEW FEDERAL DIETARY GUIDELINES VS. THE PEOPLE OF NEW YORK CITY

Jan 15, 2026

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7 min read

THE NEW FEDERAL DIETARY GUIDELINES VS. THE PEOPLE OF NEW YORK CITY

What Washington recommends assumes time, space, and choice. New York offers none of that, then enforces the outcome anyway.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

NEW YORK SPENT 100 YEARS MAKING DANCING ILLEGAL. NOW IT WANTS CREDIT FOR FIXING IT.

Jan 14, 2026

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7 min read

NEW YORK SPENT 100 YEARS MAKING DANCING ILLEGAL. NOW IT WANTS CREDIT FOR FIXING IT.

Why the fight over dancing in restaurants exposes how New York governs culture, not just commerce.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

IS NEW YORK BEING RUN FOR PEOPLE WHO BUILD THINGS, OR PEOPLE WHO MANAGE THEM?

Jan 14, 2026

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4 min read

IS NEW YORK BEING RUN FOR PEOPLE WHO BUILD THINGS, OR PEOPLE WHO MANAGE THEM?

New York doesn’t need another savior. It needs an economic philosophy that chooses builders over managers and understands who actually keeps this city alive.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

MAYBE NEW YORK’S REAL CRISIS ISN’T THE COST OF LIVING. IT’S THE COST OF COMFORT.

Jan 13, 2026

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7 min read

MAYBE NEW YORK’S REAL CRISIS ISN’T THE COST OF LIVING. IT’S THE COST OF COMFORT.

We say everything is too expensive, then choose predictability over discovery, convenience over character, and safety over the very culture we claim to miss.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

NYC’S “NO HIDDEN FEES” PLAN COULD END UP COSTING YOU MORE

Jan 11, 2026

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8 min read

NYC’S “NO HIDDEN FEES” PLAN COULD END UP COSTING YOU MORE

This sounds like basic common sense: New Yorkers are sick of surprise charges tacked on at checkout. Fees that hide until you click “confirm,” whether it’s for gym memberships, concert tickets, apartments, or delivery app orders.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

NEW YORK ATE YOUR “FOODIE CITY” AND MOVED ON

Jan 8, 2026

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8 min read

NEW YORK ATE YOUR “FOODIE CITY” AND MOVED ON

A brutally honest field report on how New Yorkers actually feel about other so-called great food cities, from LA to Paris, with love, shade, and receipts.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

EVERYONE CLAIMS TO “LOVE NEW YORK,” BUT NOBODY WANTS TO LIVE LIKE A NEW YORKER ANYMORE

Jan 8, 2026

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4 min read

EVERYONE CLAIMS TO “LOVE NEW YORK,” BUT NOBODY WANTS TO LIVE LIKE A NEW YORKER ANYMORE

The merch sells. The hashtags spread. The nostalgia videos go viral. But the lived reality — the grit, the friction, the showing up — that part is disappearing fast.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

MOST NEW YORKERS CONFUSE SELF-AWARENESS WITH SELF-CONTROL, AND IT SHOWS

Jan 8, 2026

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4 min read

MOST NEW YORKERS CONFUSE SELF-AWARENESS WITH SELF-CONTROL, AND IT SHOWS

New York doesn’t make people reckless. It exposes exactly how little control most of us actually have.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

NEW YORK IS BEING DESIGNED FOR THE PEOPLE WHO WORK FOR IT, NOT THE PEOPLE WHO BUILD IT

Jan 6, 2026

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8 min read

NEW YORK IS BEING DESIGNED FOR THE PEOPLE WHO WORK FOR IT, NOT THE PEOPLE WHO BUILD IT

How New York quietly redesigned itself around stable paychecks and internal comfort, while pushing risk, volatility, and failure onto the businesses and communities that actually keep the city alive.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

THE CITY THAT ONCE CELEBRATED HUSTLE NOW COMPLAINS ABOUT NOISE; MAKE THAT MAKE SENSE

Jan 6, 2026

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5 min read

THE CITY THAT ONCE CELEBRATED HUSTLE NOW COMPLAINS ABOUT NOISE; MAKE THAT MAKE SENSE

If the soundtrack of New York annoys you, the problem isn’t the city — it’s forgetting the role this place plays for the entire world.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

NEW YORK BUILT A FOOD-MARKET MONOPOLY AND STRANGLED ITS STREET-VENDOR SOUL IN THE PROCESS

Jan 5, 2026

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8 min read

NEW YORK BUILT A FOOD-MARKET MONOPOLY AND STRANGLED ITS STREET-VENDOR SOUL IN THE PROCESS

Decades of permit caps, enforcement, and curated “public markets” quietly rerouted street food into capital-controlled halls, sidelining the immigrant vendors who once defined New York.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

THE DEATH OF NEW YORK’S MIDDLE DINING CLASS

Jan 4, 2026

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6 min read

THE DEATH OF NEW YORK’S MIDDLE DINING CLASS

The $25–$35 neighborhood restaurant built New York’s social life. After the pandemic, it broke trust, raised prices, lowered standards, and quietly signed its own death certificate.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

THE FOOD INFLUENCER ERA IS OVER. NOW THEY’RE COMING FOR LOCAL POLITICS.

Jan 2, 2026

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8 min read

THE FOOD INFLUENCER ERA IS OVER. NOW THEY’RE COMING FOR LOCAL POLITICS.

No food. No drinks. No vendors. No bathrooms. No neighborhood texture. Just people standing around filming themselves under the idea of a block party.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

THE REAL FRAUD ISN’T WHO TOOK THE MONEY. IT’S WHO KEPT TELLING US THE SYSTEM WAS WORKING.

Jan 2, 2026

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6 min read

THE REAL FRAUD ISN’T WHO TOOK THE MONEY. IT’S WHO KEPT TELLING US THE SYSTEM WAS WORKING.

A hard look at how public systems shifted from serving people to protecting themselves, and why scandals are symptoms of a machine designed to never lose.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

“TAX THE RICH” IS NOT THE PROBLEM. PRETENDING IT'S THE SOLUTION IS.

FROM CUSTOMER TO CONSUMER: HOW NEW YORK TRAINED US TO STOP PUSHING BACK

WHY DOES NEW YORK HATE CARS SO MUCH?

NEW YORK DOESN’T FUND SMALL BUSINESSES. IT FUNDS THE PEOPLE WHO TALK ABOUT THEM.

NATHAN’S SELLING FOR $450 MILLION SHOULD MAKE NEW YORK PROUD BUT ALSO UNCOMFORTABLE

NYC IS GETTING FILLED WITH CLOSURES AND NOBODY IS TALKING ABOUT WHAT’S REALLY HAPPENING

THE MAYOR SAYS HE WANTS TO “EASE” SMALL BUSINESS.HERE’S WHAT HE ACTUALLY NEEDS TO DO.

NEW YORK SUPPORTS INNOVATION ONLY AFTER IT STOPS BEING RISKY

THE LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP NEW YORKERS HAVE WITH RESTAURANT WEEK

WE ALL HATE GENTRIFICATION (JUST NOT THE PARTS THAT MADE LIFE EASIER).

SYSCOLICIOUS IS TURNING US INTO CUSTOMERS, NOT EATERS

THE NEW FEDERAL DIETARY GUIDELINES VS. THE PEOPLE OF NEW YORK CITY

NEW YORK SPENT 100 YEARS MAKING DANCING ILLEGAL. NOW IT WANTS CREDIT FOR FIXING IT.

IS NEW YORK BEING RUN FOR PEOPLE WHO BUILD THINGS, OR PEOPLE WHO MANAGE THEM?

MAYBE NEW YORK’S REAL CRISIS ISN’T THE COST OF LIVING. IT’S THE COST OF COMFORT.

NYC’S “NO HIDDEN FEES” PLAN COULD END UP COSTING YOU MORE

NEW YORK ATE YOUR “FOODIE CITY” AND MOVED ON

EVERYONE CLAIMS TO “LOVE NEW YORK,” BUT NOBODY WANTS TO LIVE LIKE A NEW YORKER ANYMORE

MOST NEW YORKERS CONFUSE SELF-AWARENESS WITH SELF-CONTROL, AND IT SHOWS

NEW YORK IS BEING DESIGNED FOR THE PEOPLE WHO WORK FOR IT, NOT THE PEOPLE WHO BUILD IT

THE CITY THAT ONCE CELEBRATED HUSTLE NOW COMPLAINS ABOUT NOISE; MAKE THAT MAKE SENSE

NEW YORK BUILT A FOOD-MARKET MONOPOLY AND STRANGLED ITS STREET-VENDOR SOUL IN THE PROCESS

THE DEATH OF NEW YORK’S MIDDLE DINING CLASS

THE FOOD INFLUENCER ERA IS OVER. NOW THEY’RE COMING FOR LOCAL POLITICS.

THE REAL FRAUD ISN’T WHO TOOK THE MONEY. IT’S WHO KEPT TELLING US THE SYSTEM WAS WORKING.

Born Hungry™