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

THE OLDEST SCAM IN THE KITCHEN IS THE PAYCHECK THAT IS ALWAYS COMING NEXT WEEK

Aug 24, 2026

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4 min read

THE OLDEST SCAM IN THE KITCHEN IS THE PAYCHECK THAT IS ALWAYS COMING NEXT WEEK

The state charged a Washington Heights restaurant with grand larceny for it, and eleven years later a separate order still sits uncollected.

consumer protection

The Tip Screen Made You The Villain And New York Just Stopped Playing The Part

Aug 21, 2026

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4 min read

The Tip Screen Made You The Villain And New York Just Stopped Playing The Part

The revolt at the register is real, and it is aimed at a machine, not a person.

State Of The Street

A Million Meals In Ten Years And The East Village Lease Did Not Get Renewed

Aug 19, 2026

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4 min read

A Million Meals In Ten Years And The East Village Lease Did Not Get Renewed

Ladybird closes at the end of 2026, and the reason on the record is not rent.

State Of The Street

The World Cup Filled New York, and the Immigrant Blocks Promised a Boom Mostly Got Their Regulars

Aug 17, 2026

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3 min read

The World Cup Filled New York, and the Immigrant Blocks Promised a Boom Mostly Got Their Regulars

For a month the city wore match colors and the crowds were real. But the money ran down predictable channels, past the immigrant blocks that were told to expect it.

New York Eats Here

State Of The Street

The State Funded a $6 Million World Cup Legacy. The Operators Who Ate the Closures Got a Grant Form

Aug 16, 2026

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3 min read

The State Funded a $6 Million World Cup Legacy. The Operators Who Ate the Closures Got a Grant Form

The state put six million dollars into a World Cup legacy fund and threw a free final in Central Park. The operators who absorbed the closures were routed to a grant application instead.

New York Eats Here

State Of The Street

The City Locked Delivery Trucks Out of Midtown and Told Almost No One Who Runs a Kitchen There

Aug 14, 2026

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3 min read

The City Locked Delivery Trucks Out of Midtown and Told Almost No One Who Runs a Kitchen There

For eight match days the city sealed Midtown blocks to trucks for hours at a time. The restaurants inside learned about it from their suppliers, not the city.

New York Eats Here

State Of The Street

THE NORTH SHORE FED ITSELF WHILE SIXTY SEVEN MILLION DOLLARS WENT TO THE FERRY

Jul 30, 2026

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4 min read

THE NORTH SHORE FED ITSELF WHILE SIXTY SEVEN MILLION DOLLARS WENT TO THE FERRY

Public capital concentrated at a single Staten Island address, and the kitchens a mile away are the ones still open.

State Of The Street

THE $28 LUNCH IS NOT WHY YOU CAN'T AFFORD NEW YORK CITY

Jul 30, 2026

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5 min read

THE $28 LUNCH IS NOT WHY YOU CAN'T AFFORD NEW YORK CITY

The advice is meal prep. In this city, the grocery aisle got more expensive than the restaurant did.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

Fifty Years On, Sybil's Still Sells Breakfast For A Dollar And A Quarter

Jul 29, 2026

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4 min read

Fifty Years On, Sybil's Still Sells Breakfast For A Dollar And A Quarter

The counter price at 132-17 Liberty Avenue only survives because nobody is taking 43 percent of it.

State Of The Street

TWO APPS DECIDE WHO DRIVES IN NEW YORK, AND THEY CAN END YOUR CAREER

Jul 9, 2026

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3 min read

TWO APPS DECIDE WHO DRIVES IN NEW YORK, AND THEY CAN END YOUR CAREER

For years, Uber and Lyft could cut a New York driver loose with no notice, no reason, and no appeal. Two apps run most of the city's for-hire work. A deactivation is not a rough shift. It is the end of the job.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

THE 45-DAY CLOCK: WHAT MAMDANI'S SMALL BUSINESS ORDER CAN AND CANNOT FIX

Jul 7, 2026

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3 min read

THE 45-DAY CLOCK: WHAT MAMDANI'S SMALL BUSINESS ORDER CAN AND CANNOT FIX

New York opens and closes small businesses faster than almost anywhere else in the country. This spring the math went the wrong way. Roughly 8,400 businesses closed citywide. Roughly 3,500 opened. That gap has been eating corners of this city for a decade. What is new is a mayor putting his name on a promise to close it.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

TAYLOR SWIFT IS A BILLIONAIRE. THE DELIS SHE CLOSED FOR HER WEDDING LOSE MONEY EVERY DAY

Jul 3, 2026

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3 min read

TAYLOR SWIFT IS A BILLIONAIRE. THE DELIS SHE CLOSED FOR HER WEDDING LOSE MONEY EVERY DAY

In Midtown, on the blocks that ring Madison Square Garden, the Fourth of July weekend was supposed to be a payday.

Reagan Payne

State Of The Street

FOUR FIRMS SET THE PRICE ON YOUR PLATE, NOT YOUR FAVORITE SPOT

Jun 30, 2026

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4 min read

FOUR FIRMS SET THE PRICE ON YOUR PLATE, NOT YOUR FAVORITE SPOT

Beef hit a record $9.64 a pound. Four companies process 85 percent of it.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

ONE NEW YORK FEEDS THE CITY. THE OTHER ONE CHARGES $385 TO WATCH.

Jun 15, 2026

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4 min read

ONE NEW YORK FEEDS THE CITY. THE OTHER ONE CHARGES $385 TO WATCH.

There are two New Yorks. You can find the split anywhere you look, but the kitchen shows it fastest.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

Jun 15, 2026

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4 min read

THE THIRD ROUND IS GONE

How GLP-1s rewrote NYC restaurant unit economics while the hospitality industry stayed silent.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

THEY'RE FLYING IN A MILLION PEOPLE TO EAT MCDONALD'S

Jun 10, 2026

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4 min read

THEY'RE FLYING IN A MILLION PEOPLE TO EAT MCDONALD'S

The World Cup hands New York the biggest crowd it has ever fed. The official menu is the same handful of logos those people left at home.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

NEW YORK IS SPENDING BILLIONS ON HOMELESSNESS AND GETTING PERMANENCE IN RETURN

Jun 8, 2026

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2 min read

NEW YORK IS SPENDING BILLIONS ON HOMELESSNESS AND GETTING PERMANENCE IN RETURN

New York is not underfunding homelessness. It is overfunding the wrong version of it.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

THEY BOUGHT YOUR CRM. THEY BOUGHT THE AD ENGINE TWO DAYS EARLIER.

Jun 5, 2026

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4 min read

THEY BOUGHT YOUR CRM. THEY BOUGHT THE AD ENGINE TWO DAYS EARLIER.

DoorDash now owns the data on every guest who ever booked through SevenRooms. The same company also runs a billion-dollar ad business. The operator built the inventory.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

NEARLY $8B IN SNAP RUNS THROUGH NEW YORK. WASHINGTON JUST REDREW THE LINE FOR WHO GETS TO ACCEPT IT.

Jun 1, 2026

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5 min read

NEARLY $8B IN SNAP RUNS THROUGH NEW YORK. WASHINGTON JUST REDREW THE LINE FOR WHO GETS TO ACCEPT IT.

The cut came dressed as a hunger story. Underneath it is a small-business closure program, and the corner store is the target.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

THE GREAT NEW YORK COOKIE BOOM IS RUNNING OUT OF DOUGH

May 30, 2026

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2 min read

THE GREAT NEW YORK COOKIE BOOM IS RUNNING OUT OF DOUGH

A cookie used to be the quietest thing in a bakery.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

THE RESTAURANT LABOR PIPELINE COLLAPSED. NOW EVERYONE IS ASKING WHO WILL WORK THE KITCHEN.

May 28, 2026

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3 min read

THE RESTAURANT LABOR PIPELINE COLLAPSED. NOW EVERYONE IS ASKING WHO WILL WORK THE KITCHEN.

For decades New York’s restaurant industry ran on a labor system that everyone relied on and almost nobody talked about.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

THEY'RE SELLING GOWANUS AS THE NEXT AMSTERDAM. THE BLOCK THAT MADE IT IS GOING DARK.

May 25, 2026

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4 min read

THEY'RE SELLING GOWANUS AS THE NEXT AMSTERDAM. THE BLOCK THAT MADE IT IS GOING DARK.

Something strange has been happening over the last few weeks.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

INFLUENCERS ARE NOW SHARING POSTS ABOUT PEOPLE HATING FOOD INFLUENCERS. MAKE THAT MAKE SENSE

May 21, 2026

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2 min read

INFLUENCERS ARE NOW SHARING POSTS ABOUT PEOPLE HATING FOOD INFLUENCERS. MAKE THAT MAKE SENSE

Something strange has been happening over the last few weeks.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

WHEN A BANK BUYS FOOD MEDIA, IT IS NOT BUYING JOURNALISM. IT IS BUYING THE MOMENT BEFORE THE SWIPE.

May 17, 2026

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2 min read

WHEN A BANK BUYS FOOD MEDIA, IT IS NOT BUYING JOURNALISM. IT IS BUYING THE MOMENT BEFORE THE SWIPE.

When JPMorgan Chase acquired The Infatuation in 2021, the reaction across the food world was mostly confusion. A bank buying a restaurant recommendation platform sounded strange at first glance. Finance and food media did not appear to belong in the same business conversation.

Marco Shalma

State Of The Street

BLACK-OWNED BAR EVICTED BECAUSE JIMMY'S CUSTOMERS "DON'T LOOK LIKE" THE OTHER TENANTS

May 15, 2026

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3 min read

BLACK-OWNED BAR EVICTED BECAUSE JIMMY'S CUSTOMERS "DON'T LOOK LIKE" THE OTHER TENANTS

The complaint is filed. The Durst Organization won't address the racial discrimination allegations. Here is exactly what the lawsuit says happened.

New York Eats Here, +1