Sign in

Rob Pitingolo

@robpitingolo.bsky.social
121 followers 137 following 676 posts

Weekday researcher. Nights and weekend tour guide. Sometimes "that guy from the internet" on the National Mall.

PostsRepliesMedia
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 11h
Destination DC going all in on "sports tourism" is a huge tell for what's coming in 2027. They know they can't sell DC as a destination in the normal sense so they'll just count people who turn up to sporting events as tourists to juice the numbers.
dcnewsnow.com
Destination DC to lean in on sports tourism in 2027
The D.C. tourism industry plans to go all in on sports tourism in 2027, as it looks to build off the momentum of the city’s investment in sporting events and venues.
031
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 11h
Tour companies are somewhat resilient in the sense that overhead is lower than, say, restaurants or other brick and mortar entertainment. But these aren't just bad numbers, these are "it's time to close up shop" kind of numbers.
120
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 11h
Tour companies report 2026 business down between 50 and 75 percent. And that's in a milestone anniversary year that should have been an absolute windfall. 2027 is going to be ROUGH.
washingtonpost.com
Tour guides lose business as D.C.’s reputation and landscape change under Trump
Guides say bookings have plummeted in 2026 amid renovations, closings and a charged political climate.
155
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 11h
The WH response is exactly what I expect. Destination DC, on the other hand, seems to be cooking the books and that enrages me more.
040
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Every week it feels like bracing for more closings. Sad times.
010
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I continue screaming into the void that inbound international tourism to the US is a trade export - a thing we are told is of utmost importance in this era.
020
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Fun surprise to order a year's supply of contacts and find out the price is up another 8% over last year. But also: insurance coverage went up 0% since last year. And: manufacturers rebate is less than half of last year. Functionally a 49% price jump YoY.
000
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Can't wait to read a bunch of articles about how he "won" the 2025 special with zero mention that it was with 27.7% of the vote.
011
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
It's really not that hard to be creative with your team name, mascot, merch, etc. Minor League Baseball cracked this code a long time ago.
000
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Can't wait to find out in a few weeks that the 18th club will be called Columbus City FC 🙄
110
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
They could put more butts in seats if they wanted to. Low attendance is a choice. What's most frustrating are all the spillover effects. Half Street is struggling big time right now.
120
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
It's another bright day on Wall Street thanks to "hopes"!
finance.yahoo.com
Wall St edges up on AI enthusiasm, Mideast negotiation hopes
By Johann M Cherian and Avinash P Sept 25 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes inched higher in choppy trading on Friday as AI optimism buoyed sentiment and oil prices eased, while investors
000
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Imagine the chaos if it was also raining.
000
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I feel like we are only a few more lopsided polls away from "high fuel prices are good, actually" coordinated messaging.
001
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Stocks are still pumping all thanks to "hopes"!
bloomberg.com
Watch Stocks, Bonds Climb as Oil Falls on US-Iran Hopes - Bloomberg
Stocks and bonds kicked off the week on a positive note as hopes for diplomatic efforts to end the war in Iran drove oil prices lower, easing inflation anxiety. The advance in equities erased the S&P ...
100
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Announcing is always mediocre at best but ESPN inability to set up a camera without water all over the lens is just embarrassing production quality.
100
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
NWSL builds their schedule around these national TV broadcasts (often to the detriment of the in-person experience) and this is what it's for? Pretty maddening how little the broadcasters even seem to try.
010
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
If you thought ESPN coverage of the US Open was bad wait til you see what they've done to the Spirit vs. Stars game today.
100
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
And frankly I'm sick of people saying nobody cares about this because gasoline prices or whatever. People care!
120
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Similar petition for "critics" to refer to the people of DC.
030
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I struggle with the terminology "least productive Congress" because it presumes when Congress legislates it does so for good and not destruction. For the people of DC, for example, it feels like the best possible outcome is if this Congress simply doesn't return.
041
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
In an alternative reality, they could have literally done nothing! Kept the old board, the old chairman. We would have had a great run of Hamilton in the spring and a bunch of cool 250th programming in the summer. Instead it's September and we're risking demolition. Absurd.
000
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
"including demolition" Absolutely absurd thing to have to read.
100
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
People are still surprised when I tell them DC tourism is in a bad place right now. I don't think people realize that this is the experience a DC tourist is getting in 2026.
Lincoln memorial reflecting pool surrounded by fences and caution tape.Lincoln memorial reflecting pool surrounded by fences and caution tape.Lawn next to the Washington monument fenced off and ripped up.Brand new Lincoln Memorial Undercroft exhibit is closed.
085
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
I know this is meant as rage bait but from a harm reduction perspective for the people of DC this is probably the least bad scenario.
030
Reposted by Rob Pitingolo
Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 15/09/2026
The Kennedy Center was a beloved Washington institution, enjoyed by millions of people. It has been destroyed for no real reason. Just vanity, carelessness, indifference. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
Trump’s Kennedy Center Shakedown
The only appropriate response is to refuse to accede to his demands.
1462429849
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
And that's to say nothing of the actual business model of the Kennedy Center, which as far as I can tell, doesn't exist anymore.
000
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
The worst part about the Kennedy Center is that ~best case scenario~ they close, renovate and reopen in two years. Realistically, look a half mile down the road at a reflecting pool that was supposed to take only a few weeks to fix up and has been shuttered for months with no clear end in sight.
100
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Real "we have no choice but to move the baseball team to Miami because the thankless fans won't buy tickets for the last place team we put together" vibes.
120
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
I think about this a lot in the context of the multiple bankrupted casinos. How many other people could do that and still be called a successful businessman?
110
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
It is a disservice to just re-print the outright lies about the state of the Kennedy Center, either its finances or the bricks and mortar of the place.
020
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
In 2024 the Kennedy Center had an opera, a symphony, a lineup of Broadway shows. Hamilton was on deck for a blockbuster performance in celebration of America 250!
120
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
I continue screaming into the void as I beg anyone covering the Kennedy Center saga to simply point out that the institution was doing JUST FINE in 2024.
1113
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I haven't owned a car in nearly 20 years. Compound this number over that amount of time and it's substantial! Basically the reason I will (hopefully) have a decent retirement when many others sadly will not.
000
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
From the people who brought you "lower interest rates this week or we cancel all international trade".
011
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Also the fact that "this man is so bad at business that he bankrupted multiple casinos" never stuck as a political message will never not baffle me.
010
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Man this is downright infuriating.
washingtonpost.com
Kennedy Center could close as early as Tuesday, warns of bankruptcy, documents show
Officials said the center is facing “certain financial collapse” within weeks, insist that adding President Donald Trump’s name may be the only way to avoid bankruptcy.
131
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
It's not so different from why companies used to use (and maybe still do) unpaid interns.
000
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
I guess this isn't obvious but the reason business owners love AI (and yes this includes small business owners too) is because they see it as access to free or very cheap labor.
110
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
This mornings show, on the 25th anniversary of 9/11 and the day after whatever just happened in Dallas, is especially brutal.
000
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I know everyone gives the NY Times grief for sanewashing the news but IMO national NPR is the worst offender, especially the morning show, and has been for years.
220
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
This is really the only indicator that matters if you want to understand why a growing number of people think the gov is cooking the books every month when new "great" economic numbers come out.
021
Reposted by Rob Pitingolo
jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 07/09/2026
anyway i think DC statehood is a non negotiable. only way to give DC residents the tools to protect themselves.
373420408
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Flipping through my timeline and it's like: -Reflecting pool still drained, more $$$ doled out in no bid contracts -Kennedy Center can't sell tickets, roof collapsing -Rush to build an arch nobody asked for
010
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
This plus explicit punishment for the residents of DC.
000
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Saw this signage today and what a refreshing break from the slop (the restaurant next door had an AI slop sign).
Signage outside of a pizza restaurant.
0200
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Love to watch the ending of an exciting match on my phone screen while ESPN shows eight plus minutes of straight commercials on the TV.
000
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Staying in a hotel so I don't have access to my regular streaming apps on the TV but man ESPN coverage of the US Open on the regular cable channel is atrocious. Every criticism of it is valid.
100
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Two restaurants in NYC next door to each other. Only one of them has signage that makes me want to spend my money there.
AI slop signage at Bagel Cafe.Signage at a NYC pizza restaurant.
020
Rob Pitingolo @robpitingolo.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
We already know exactly how the NFL draft is going to go. Ask all the small businesses in Pittsburgh how badly they got screwed this year.
010