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Rachel Holliday Smith

@rachelholliday.bsky.social
29K followers 1.3K following 7.7K posts

managing editor at The City Reporter (@thecity.nyc) • news if I must, local joy where I can find it • bird enjoyer • tell me something good: rsmith@thecityreporter.nyc // @rachelholliday.77 on Signal 📍 queens / fun hell

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Reposted by Rachel Holliday Smith
New York Metro Weather @nymetrowx.bsky.social · 3h
Wednesday's Weather Rating: 10/10 BACK TO BACK!!! High temperatures reach the upper 60s with sunshine, low dew points and a light breeze continuing all day long. A little autumn chill this morning and a glorious day throughout. The vibes remain immaculate out there!!
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Reposted by Rachel Holliday Smith
depths of wikipedia @depthsofwikipedia.bsky.social · 16h
wikipedia has been ANNIHILATED with AI bot traffic for a while now (because LLMs can't get enough of it) which puts a huge burden on its tech and server costs. and now it looks like bots are making unauthorized edits to pages and trying to hack community tools diff.wikimedia.org/2026/10/05/o...
Wiki editing: We’ve identified edits to Wikimedia wikis that we believe are from AI agents operated by OpenAI. These edits were not published to pages with visibility to general readers; almost all of them were testing edits in “sandbox” areas of the wiki. It also included a few edits to the configuration for a citation tool, which we believe were potentially malicious edits that were intended to misuse this tool as a proxy for fetching data from remote services. While Wikipedia policies allow bots to edit when they are disclosed and approved by the community, none of those approvals were sought in these incidents.
Etherpad probing and use: Agents we believe to be operated by OpenAI made some unsuccessful attempts to compromise our public Etherpad, a note-taking tool we host as a community service. Agents unsuccessfully tried to use it to fetch data from other websites as a proxy. Other agents also likely operated by OpenAI took notes about their tasks, though this did not appear to turn into coordination.
Excessive data downloading: Agents we believe to be operated by OpenAI made millions of automated requests to our public APIs to access the knowledge on Wikimedia projects, crawled millions of pages (mainly from our projects Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons), and made hundreds of thousands of data queries to the Wikidata Query Service (WDQS). This traffic may have contributed to a partial outage on WDQS in May. Wikimedia’s volunteers are the ones who come in first contact with, and clean up the mess left behind by AI agents. Rising bot traffic and agentic activity is showing a real impact on the Wikimedia projects and the infrastructure that makes it available for millions of users globally. In 2025, the Foundation reported that its bandwidth usage had increased by 50% due to the surge of bot activity on its websites since 2024. At the same time, 65% of the most resource-consuming traffic on its projects was coming from bots.
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Gillian Brockell @gillianbrockell.com · 23h
I LOVE how @propublica.org dealt with official comment here, editorially and stylistically.
The Trump administration says none of this is happening. 

"DHS is NOT arresting U.S. citizens by mistake." "There are no 'indiscriminate' stops." Allegations of "racial profiling are disgusting, reckless and categorically FALSE." "The pattern is NOT of law enforcement using force." "ICE does not zip tie or restrain children." 

But that is precisely what is happening, and at a far larger scale than previously reported.
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Bruno J. Navarro @brunojnavarro.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
“New York City has ridden the AI boom more than anyone in America except San Francisco,” City Comptroller Mark Levine says. “… But New Yorkers don’t realize how our fate has been tied to the AI boom,” he adds.
thecityreporter.nyc
What Happens to New York City When the AI Bubble Bursts
The city’s budget is increasingly dependent on Wall Street profits, which would immediately contract if the AI boom turns into a bust.
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Reposted by Rachel Holliday Smith
Samantha Maldonado @smaldo.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The NY Department of Health says it will soon destroy its reserve of misoprostol pills, which is enough for 12,500 doses. That’s in contrast to California, which took steps to distribute its supply to providers, and Oregon, which reupped its stock at no cost. gothamist.com/news/new-yor...
gothamist.com
New York state stockpiled abortion pills. Now they're all expired.
The state Department of Health says it will soon destroy its reserve of misoprostol pills, which is enough for 12,500 doses.
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Karen K. Ho @karenho.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Yeah! Soup season! bsky.app/profile/rook...
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Kat of Seiros @katofseiros.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
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Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
One of my essential subscriptions. Critically important if you live in NYC. Congratulations.
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The City Reporter @thecityreporter.nyc · 05/10/2026
Immigrants with protected status who’ve lived in the city for decades are finding themselves swept up, shackled and threatened with expulsion.
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'But I'm Not From Ghana': ICE Targets Longtime New Yorkers for Third-Country Deportation
Immigrants with protected status who've lived in the city for decades are finding themselves swept up, shackled and threatened with expulsion.
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Becky Allen @handle.invalid · 05/10/2026
Huh. Apparently, people slipping on banana peels was not just a cartoon gag, it was a thing that happened in gross city streets when bananas first became widely available: ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com/2026/10/05/w...
ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com
When Gilded Age New York City went to war against banana peels
River pirates, sneak thieves, pickpockets, confidence men—New York City in 1896 was grappling with rising rates of relatively new crimes that threatened the safety of Gilded Age Gotham. But tthe ci…
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Rachel Holliday Smith @rachelholliday.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
it happened again, momentarily thought it was snow
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maya apparitionpussy @membrane.hellstar.plus · 04/10/2026
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Documented @documentedny.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Sesame Flyers, one of NYC's largest Mas bands, will skip the 60th West Indian American Day Carnival due to parade issues.
documentedny.com
After 39 Years, One of New York’s Largest Mas Bands Is Stepping Away from Carnival
Sesame Flyers, one of NYC's largest Mas bands, will skip the 60th West Indian American Day Carnival due to parade issues.
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Reposted by Rachel Holliday Smith
Gwen C. Katz @gwenckatz.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
Great chance to post my all-time favorite headline
The Radium Water Worked Fine Until His Jaw Came Off
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Rachel Holliday Smith @rachelholliday.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
amazing hustle outside MSG tonight, I hope this guy made a pile (I didn’t attend, just passing through)
a street seller with huge blown up images of harry styles’ head in the middle of a busy manhattan sidewalk
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Reposted by Rachel Holliday Smith
Jessy Edwards @jessyedwards.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
The 17 new Throne Labs modular toilets that the Mamdani administration is scattering across the five boroughs are a cut above the usual temporary toilet. They're like what your rich cousin got for their farmhouse wedding—but nicer. hellgatenyc.com/we-test-peed...
hellgatenyc.com
We Test-Peed NYC's New Modular, App-Activated Public Toilets
The 17 new Throne Labs spread across the city are spiffy, but they require you to have a smartphone or a special card.
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Jessica McKenzie @jessimckenzi.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
i don't think you should be allowed to call your business a speakeasy if it has a yelp page
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Justin Hendrix @justinhendrix.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
New York City Comptroller Mark Levine told The City Reporter’s FAQ NYC podcast this week that the city is facing an uptick in AI-enabled cyberattacks.
thecityreporter.nyc
NYC Already Battling AI Attacks as Council Prepares to Grill Industry Leaders
As lawmakers introduce new measures to get a handle on AI adoption in the city government, bots and agents are already attacking New York’s contracting and payment systems.
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Reposted by Rachel Holliday Smith
@Above96th @handle.invalid · 03/10/2026
Central Park's Barred Owl hasn't been seen in the last couple of days. I hope it hasn't left--I'd love to watch it hunting again! 🦉🦉🦉 #Owls #CentralPark #birdsseenin2026
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whet moser @whetmoser.com · 03/10/2026
“Drawing on labyrinthine Internal Revenue Service records, the pair study a group of rich business owners that looks more like a suburban chamber of commerce than an oligarchy: car dealers, dentists... What they find is tremendous wealth and power.” www.nytimes.com/2026/10/02/b...
nytimes.com
The Rich People Democrats Aren’t Talking About (Gift Article)
As billionaires become a popular political target, a new book urges Washington not to lose sight of a much larger, and quieter, group of wealthy business owners.
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West Side Rag @westsiderag.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
A cookie closure, an NYPD evidence team, and a lawsuit. www.westsiderag.com/2026/10/02/u...
westsiderag.com
UWS Chip City Permanently Closes as NYPD Officers Arrive to Collect Evidence
Officers outside of the now-shuttered Upper West Side Chip City. Photo by Gus Saltonstall. By Gus Saltonstall The Upper West
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Reposted by Rachel Holliday Smith
Museum of Twitter @museum-of-twitter.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
@JFriedhoff

me at 13: wow i can't wait til we have immersive computers everywhere like star trek
me at 30: wow i can't wait until we destroy all computers like in dune
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New York Transit Museum @nytransitmuseum.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
The El’s Q-Cars — former wooden gate cars that had been modified and refurbished — were the last wooden passenger trains employed in regular service in North America.
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Rachel Holliday Smith @rachelholliday.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
sigh well curtis sliwa is in the news once again which means I must by law trot out one of the stories I had the most fun writing, ever: a deep dive on his decades of absolutely batshit lore
thecityreporter.nyc
Who Is Curtis Sliwa? A Look at the GOP Mayoral Candidate’s Wild Ride in New York
The Guardian Angels leader’s history is marked by both fabricated tales and true events that sound like fiction. Here’s what to know about the beret-wearing, cat-rescuing, vigilante radio host trying ...
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Deva Woodly @devawo.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I follow this man on Instagram like the xennial I am (my kids make fun of me but I am content). It’s very wholesome.
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Jerry Chen @jcsalterego.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
hoping to post from the concrete jungle where dreams are made of one day
a photo of a storefront that reads "BLUESKY new york"
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Rachel Holliday Smith @rachelholliday.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
fun one: we talked to David 'Trash Talk' Clarke who's probably come up on your feed once or twice! he's turned TikTok-fueled gardening into a full-time thing.
thecityreporter.nyc
‘Trash Talk’ TikTok Star Doesn’t Want to Clean Up NYC Forever. He Wants You To.
David Clarke has spent the last five months picking up litter and rebuilding tree planters in Upper Manhattan, operating from his soil- and plant-filled apartment.
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Rachel Holliday Smith @rachelholliday.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
regrettably I must admit this is the crossover event of the century
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Rachel Holliday Smith @rachelholliday.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
"The lawmakers’ visit comes after @thecityreporter.nyc broke the news last week that the city had turned down a federal grant to support the Borden Avenue Veterans Residence over concerns the award would have required the city to discriminate against transgender veterans." long live local news
thecityreporter.nyc
Lawmakers Force Inspection of NYC Veterans Shelter Amid Federal Funding Tempest
Two City Council members entered the facility against the staff’s orders as the Mamdani administration confirmed how much money it declined over concerns about anti-transgender discrimination.
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Rachel Holliday Smith @rachelholliday.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
"Officials from companies including OpenAI and Anthropic said they will testify – but every company excluding Meta agreed to do so only after they were threatened with subpoenas, according to the City Council."
thecityreporter.nyc
NYC Already Battling AI Attacks as Council Prepares to Grill Industry Leaders
As lawmakers introduce new measures to get a handle on AI adoption in the city government, bots and agents are already attacking New York’s contracting and payment systems.
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Reposted by Rachel Holliday Smith
Andrew Giambrone @andrewgiambrone.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
“Officials from companies including OpenAI & Anthropic said they will testify—but every company excluding Meta agreed to do so only after they were threatened w/ subpoenas, according to the City Council” (via @thecityreporter.nyc ) www.thecityreporter.nyc/2026/10/02/n...
thecityreporter.nyc
NYC Already Battling AI Attacks as Council Prepares to Grill Industry Leaders
As lawmakers introduce new measures to get a handle on AI adoption in the city government, bots and agents are already attacking New York’s contracting and payment systems.
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Reposted by Rachel Holliday Smith
Andrew Giambrone @andrewgiambrone.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Inbox: “On Friday, Mayor Mamdani will get his flu shot.”
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Dr Hannah M. Rowland @hannahmrowland.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Hope your day was better than Darwin’s, on this day 165 years ago
I am very poorly today & very stupid & hate everybody &everything.

Charles Darwin
Letter to Charles Lyell
1st October 1861
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Jaya Saxena @jayasaxena.com · 01/10/2026
Great thread to read if you respond to every paywall like someone has shot you in the chest
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World Bollard Association™️ @worldbollardassoc.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
It takes years of training to perfect this manoeuvre. #WorldBollardAssociation
An NYPD police car balances its rear wheel in a black bollard leaving the car stranded in the air.
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Rachel Holliday Smith @rachelholliday.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
well that’s it, I’m adding “and Costco member” to professional bio
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Rachel Holliday Smith @rachelholliday.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
gateway development commission is on bluesky this site has the juice
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The City Reporter @thecityreporter.nyc · 01/10/2026
Two City Council members entered the facility against the staff’s orders as the Mamdani administration confirmed how much money it declined over concerns about anti-transgender discrimination.
buff.ly
Lawmakers Force Inspection of NYC Veterans Shelter Amid Federal Funding Tempest
Two City Council members entered the facility against the staff’s orders as the Mamdani administration confirmed how much money it declined over concerns about anti-transgender discrimination.
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Rachel Holliday Smith @rachelholliday.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
got ‘em
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Rachel Holliday Smith @rachelholliday.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
subway mosaic enjoyer has logged on once again
stunning mosaic at times square showing a person-like figure covered in vivid flower blooms
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Rachel Holliday Smith @rachelholliday.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
once again. couldn't love it more
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The City Reporter @thecityreporter.nyc · 01/10/2026
Attorney General Letitia James has asked New Yorkers to report AI companies who might be violating the law.
buff.ly
Why New York City Has Become an AI Mecca
OpenAI and Anthropic have opened up huge offices in Manhattan, while smaller companies have been drawn to the city’s talent and its status as an economic powerhouse.
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Samantha Maldonado @smaldo.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Green means GO - that is, new affordable housing projects will go through a faster process for approval in these 12 districts. The 12 blue neighborhoods together contributed more than half of the city's affordable housing in the past five years. www.thecityreporter.nyc/2026/10/01/a...
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Dan Mauler 🎃 @handle.invalid · 01/10/2026
Last year's ballot initiatives are paying off! www.thecityreporter.nyc/2026/10/01/a...
thecityreporter.nyc
The 12 Neighborhoods the Mamdani Administration Is Targeting for More Affordable Housing
The city Planning Department’s new list of districts with weak records on housing includes the Upper East Side and several neighborhoods in Queens and Staten Island.
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Andrew Giambrone @andrewgiambrone.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The 12 Neighborhoods the Mamdani Administration Is Targeting for More Affordable Housing (via @thecityreporter.nyc) www.thecityreporter.nyc/2026/10/01/a...
thecityreporter.nyc
The 12 Neighborhoods the Mamdani Administration Is Targeting for More Affordable Housing
The city Planning Department’s new list of districts with weak records on housing includes the Upper East Side and several neighborhoods in Queens and Staten Island.
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Rachel Holliday Smith @rachelholliday.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I just finished this piece and ……… what on … EARTH … read it all the way, don’t let the headline stop you
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Brian Dermody @briandermody.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
If I wanted to wait forever for a ride I’d regret taking, there’s always the G train.
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Second Ave. Sagas @2avesag.as · 30/09/2026
The RFP is for the concessions for the entire plaza (including responsibility for seating). I'm curious how the rides would go. The little carousels in plazas at a number of Paris Metro stops are very cute and very popular with the kiddos. PDF: 34thstreet.org/assets/uploa...
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Karrie Jacobs @karrieurbanist.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Good idea or bad idea? www.thecityreporter.nyc/2026/09/30/h...
thecityreporter.nyc
‘Amusement Rides’ Might Be Coming to Midtown’s Herald Square
The area’s business improvement district is searching for proposals to bring attractions and arcade games to the public space.
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