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Aaron W. Gordon

@agordon.me
13K followers 189 following 76 posts

Data reporter at Bloomberg News. Opinions are my cat's. Clips and contact info at agordon.me.

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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 19/07/2026
My super actually *requires* us to leave the boxes intact because he got so sick of people breaking them down wrong he prefers to do it himself!
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 19/07/2026
In which @suryamattu.com and I try to answer the age-old question: Are we smarter than Billy the Cat, the World Cup-predicting phenom? The answer is, definitively: No.
bloomberg.com
What Happened When We Let Claude Pick Our World Cup Brackets
Could Claude narrow the gap between a soccer expert and a novice? A World Cup prediction contest put AI-assisted forecasting to the test.
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 01/05/2026
“The players reached out to me and said, ‘Thank you for what you have made.’ They told me story after story of what they did. The letters coming from people’s deathbed telling me, ‘Thank you, High 5. Thank you, High 5.’ People with cancer saying, ‘You got me through this. Thank you."
bloomberg.com
The $11 Billion Casino-Style Economy Built on Players Who Can Never Cash Out
Apple and Google are raking in money from social casinos that replace real winnings with virtual coins and dopamine hits. Some players have spent more than $1 million to keep playing.
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 26/02/2026
I'm sorry to hear that! That combo eliminated the most units (28) of any we identified.
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 26/02/2026
Special thanks to @floorarearatio.bsky.social, among many others who asked to remain behind the scenes, for helping us sort through city housing data.
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 26/02/2026
It's a trend that is quietly changing the character of neighborhoods, block by block, as buildings that once housed a dozen or more New Yorkers become single-family dwellings.
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 26/02/2026
In the West Village, one out of every six small multifamily buildings has been turned into a single-family home since 2004. Citywide, more than 9,600 units have been eliminated as part of this trend.
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 26/02/2026
Behind the preserved historical facades, the ultra-rich are buying up adjacent townhomes in the West Village and Upper East Side, combining them into a megamansion. It's part of a broader trend of small multifamily buildings being turned into single-family homes. www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
bloomberg.com
The Rise of the Manhattan Mega-Mansion
In the West Village and other historic neighborhoods, buyers are consolidating apartments and combining townhomes, a sign of New York’s allure to the ultra-rich.
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 17/02/2026
He thinks it is named after the state www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 21/01/2026
Today in Guess Who Wants A Pardon
bloomberg.com
Elizabeth Holmes Asks Trump for Early Prison Release After Fraud
Disgraced Theranos Inc. founder Elizabeth Holmes has formally asked President Donald Trump to release her from prison with almost six years left to serve on her term.
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 02/01/2026
Honored to have Signal Problems AND Book Time on here. I still get tote bag requests!
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 02/01/2026
One thing working on this series helped me realize is how long it can take regulatory failures to manifest in people's lives. In these cases, we're talking decades later. www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
bloomberg.com
How Banks, Regulators Spawned the Zombie Mortgage Nightmare
Federal officials and banks dealing with the subprime mortgage mess helped create the “zombie” mortgages crisis
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 02/01/2026
One thing I wrote about here is how technology has made buses *way* more convenient while techno-futurists were obsessed with flying taxis and self-driving cars.
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 19/12/2025
I wrote about how surprised I still am a candidate for NYC mayor won in large part by talking incessantly about buses, and also about how making them fast as promised will be an immense challenge. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
With Mamdani, the Humble Bus Gets Its Due
Enthusiasm for NYC’s mayor-elect may reflect a little-understood reality about the essential role of buses. Still, making them faster won’t be easy.
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 15/12/2025
Brought to you by the Department of Aaron Working On His Coding Skills
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 15/12/2025
The government shutdown got me thinking: How many flights in the US are actually replaceable by train? It depends on how insane you are, but the basic answer is: Not Many! 70% of flights shorter than 500 miles have no train option at all. Out of those that do, 65% would likely be faster by car.
bloomberg.com
Where Is Traveling by Train a Good Option in the US?
When air travel falters, how many travelers even have the train available as backup?
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 17/11/2025
defector.com/an-abundance...
defector.com
An Abundance Of Concrete | Defector
Reliable sources tell me that you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover. Until you actually read the thing, though, it’s the only data you have to go on. So here’s what I first noticed about Ab...
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 17/11/2025
Congratulations to all the abundance bros who joined the fight behind "permitting reform" on your victory today www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/c...
nytimes.com
E.P.A. Rule Would Drastically Curb Protections for Wetlands
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 14/11/2025
New from me: Global Entry revocations are surging in the last ~2 years, well outpacing enrollment, according to data from a FOIA. People often don't know why their membership was revoked. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
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Ted Mann @whereisted.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
There's a persistent reflex to assume that projects like this are liberally coded, only popular in progressive enclaves. But the actual evidence goes the other way. Liberals aren't the only ones who like to cross the street safely. Conservatives also ride bikes and like to do so without dying.
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 30/10/2025
There are hundreds of thousands of homeowners in the US who probably don't realize there's a ticking time bomb on their American Dream in the form of a zombie second mortgage. And the agency tasked with policing this—wait for it—has been gutted by the Trump admin. www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
bloomberg.com
Trump Gutted Agency Investigating Zombie Mortgage Debt Collectors
Many homeowners were blindsided by huge bills from zombie mortgages. A federal investigation of unlawful debt collections has stalled after the Trump administration gutted the Consumer Financial Prote...
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 27/10/2025
This story: www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
bloomberg.com
NJ Transit Is NYC’s Least Reliable Commuter Rail — By a Long Shot
An analysis of real-time train data shows its passengers face major service disruptions at six times the rate of riders on other NYC commuter railways.
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 27/10/2025
NYC people: @suryamattu.com, @mariepastora.bsky.social and I will be talking about our NJ Transit/NYC commuter rail story on Nov 5. Hope to see some of you there! www.meetup.com/transit-tech...
meetup.com
Transit Techies #35: Aaron Gordon, Surya Mattu, Marie Patino / Elif Ensari, Wed, Nov 5, 2025, 6:30 PM | Meetup
This will be **Transit Techies NYC**'s final session of the year, and we have some amazing speakers to look forward to. Talks will start at 6:30pm, and we'll mingle over li
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 24/10/2025
A++ promo work
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 24/10/2025
30 billion
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 24/10/2025
I am continually impressed by Alissa's coverage of LA transportation and also how insane LA's transportation spending is.
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 23/10/2025
Two things you absolutely don't want to do at restaurants smdh
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 23/10/2025
They're doing what now?
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 23/10/2025
"Don't bother looking for me. I'll be next to my pool with a margarita."
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 23/10/2025
Coffee futures hit a new record high. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
Coffee Prices Reach Record as Trade and Supply Concerns Mount
Coffee futures rose to a fresh record in New York as crop concerns and US tariffs revived supply worries, risking further price hikes at cafes and supermarkets.
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 21/10/2025
On the broader point I don't see a huge aesthetic/entertainment difference between a long throw preparation compared to, say, a quick, safe throw in back towards goal so the centerbacks and keeper can knock it around for a bit.
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 21/10/2025
Tell 2018 me that in 2025 Andrew Cuomo will be running for mayor and proposing the city take over key parts of the MTA and I might have had an actual stroke www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/n...
nytimes.com
Cuomo to Propose That New York City Take Partial Control of Subway
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Josh Campbell @campbelljd.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
Key stat from @amandamull.bsky.social article "The richest 10% of US households—those making roughly $250,000 or more—now account for almost half the country’s consumer purchases, according to Moody’s Analytics" www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
bloomberg.com
Inside the Credit Card Battle to Win America’s Richest Shoppers
The fierce fight between Amex and Chase is playing out over higher fees, extravagant events and every perk imaginable.
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 10/10/2025
Your theory is based on the idea people want to move to cities but can't afford to and that's why they don't care what is happening here? That's not my read on what's going on at all. And the historical migrations you cite followed manufacturing booms. Those jobs are gone.
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 10/10/2025
He keeps running a statewide campaign for a city office. It's wild to watch.
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 10/10/2025
"Mansion Boy" is also good because Andrew Cuomo owned a $1.8 million, 4,000 sq ft house with its own pond until his divorce. (Reportedly it would have sold for much more but was not maintained well and was "in dire need of considerable work.") nypost.com/2021/03/03/a...
nypost.com
Andrew Cuomo and Sandra Lee sell longtime Mount Kisco house before scandal
The four-bedroom, six-bathroom home spent over a year on the market before finding a buyer.
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 10/10/2025
Fun fact: All of the MTA's rolling stock bought in the last several decades is capable of this too!
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Travis Waldron @traviswaldron.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
For Bessent’s $20 billion bet on Argentina to pay off, a lot of things have to go right. The problem is that in Argentina -- a nation with a track record of squandering other people’s money and defaulting on its own debts -- those things have tended to go wrong. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
Bessent’s Big Gamble on Argentina Has a Narrow Road to Pay Off
For Scott Bessent’s $20 billion bet on Argentina to pay off, a lot of things have to go right – things that in the past, in Argentina, have tended to go wrong.
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 07/10/2025
Certainly a lot of the slow bus problem in Manhattan is due to traffic but it a few weekends ago it took me 30 minutes to go 35 blocks on one of these local routes with no traffic whatsoever.
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 07/10/2025
Since I've moved to Manhattan it has really sunk in just how useless the non-SBS buses are if you want to get anywhere faster than walking. The north-south routes stop every block or two! The bus literally travels 10-15 bus lengths at a time, up and down Manhattan. It's so stupid.
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 07/10/2025
I've actually found the criticism of this hire to be remarkably laser-focused on what she has actually done!
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 07/10/2025
Some Personal News:
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 07/10/2025
True New Yorker quizzes are fun and all but there is only one question in the actual True New Yorker test: Do You Take The Subway?
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Smalls @shutupsmalls.bsky.social · 05/10/2025
@agordon.me is so right about this buttondown.com/Booktime/arc...
I have become interested in the experience of ordinary Germans during the rise of Nazism. You know, for no particular reason whatsoever. There are classics in the field I could have tackled, but I chose to read two lesser known and more recent works on the subject. It was a harrowing couple of weeks but well worth the intellectual adventure.
I felt compelled to read Promise Me You'll Shoot Yourself based on the title alone (browsing library stacks is the original and undefeated recommendation algorithm).
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 06/10/2025
A fun game is to ask people what they think "independent" journalism means and/or to rank various sources on a scale of independence. Answers vary wildly! www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/b...
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 03/10/2025
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 03/10/2025
Junk mail has a pretty stable definition: Unsolicited commercial offers. The junk mail industry says they would be out of business if everyone thought it was junk. And they would be if the USPS didn't offer them artificially low postage rates to compensate for the ~1% conversion rate!
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 03/10/2025
Said junk mail research: themail.substack.com/p/how-we-end...
themail.substack.com
How We Ended Up With All This Junk Mail
Believe it or not, this pop-up newsletter only has about a month left!
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 03/10/2025
I once did a bunch of archival research on the origins and history of junk mail. This talking point—that not everyone has the same definition of "junk"—was used by the junk mail industry for *decades* to fight anti-junk mail policies. (It's also not true. ) www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/t...
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Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 02/10/2025
Back when I did this kind of thing, the pitch for why more NYC newsrooms should have dedicated MTA reporters—not even "transportation" generally, just MTA—was that the MTA's annual budget was larger than that of 10 states.
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