Hacker News with Generative AI: New York

'Crypto king' turned NYC townhouse into torture chamber to gain partner Bitcoin (nbcnewyork.com)
The 37-year-old Kentucky man charged with the kidnapping and torture of an Italian man allegedly held captive for weeks inside a Manhattan townhouse aimed to get the man's password to Bitcoin, law enforcement sources say.
I was alone on shift when Newark air traffic control went dark (thetimes.com)
W.a.s.t.e. Not: John Scanlan looks for the future in the dustbins of history (thebaffler.com)
On a chilly day in Brooklyn, I paused to admire two trashmen at the intersection of Wyckoff and Suydam as they worked during rush hour.
Mexican Navy ship crashes into Brooklyn Bridge leaving two people dead (theguardian.com)
A Mexican navy sailing ship hit the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday during a promotional tour in New York City, the top of its mast brushing the iconic span as it sailed through the East River.
Microbes in Gowanus teach lessons on fighting industrial pollution (engineering.nyu.edu)
Using advanced DNA sequence analysis, a research team led by NYU Tandon School of Engineering's Assistant Professor Elizabeth Hénaff has discovered that tiny organisms in Brooklyn's highly contaminated Gowanus Canal have developed a comprehensive collection of pollution-fighting genes.
What in the World Just Happened with Grok? (theatlantic.com)
Yesterday, a user on X saw a viral post of Timothée Chalamet celebrating courtside at a Knicks game and had a simple question: Who was sitting next to him?
'Boss of the Carpenters' retires after 50 years building sets for SNL (gothamist.com)
Newark air traffic crisis: just one controller on up to 180 takeoffs, landings (nypost.com)
The safety nightmare continues at Newark Liberty International Airport, where all air traffic control will be manned by just one fully qualified person during its busiest time tonight, The Post can exclusively reveal.
Changes since congestion pricing started in New York (nytimes.com)
Almost immediately after the tolls went into effect Jan. 5 — charging most vehicles $9 to enter Manhattan from 60th Street south to the Battery — they began to alter traffic patterns, commuter behavior, transit service, even the sound of gridlock and the on-time arrival of school buses.
Dia – An Early Review (fldr.zip)
The Browser Company of New York (BCNY), known for Arc, has just launched Dia through their alpha program – their latest take on the web browser.
Radio City (thesephist.com)
One of the beautiful privileges of living in a city like New York is that you can just go for a stroll around town and encounter pieces of art that could plausibly belong in museums.
The Anarchitecture Group (spatialagency.net)
Based in New York in the 1970s, Anarchitecture was an artists' group whose members included artists Laurie Anderson, Tina Girouard, Carol Goodden, Suzanne Harris, Jene Highstein, Bernard Kirschenbaun, Richard Landry, and Richard Nonas, as well as the architecturally trained artist, Gordon Matta Clark (1943-1978).
How to start a school with your friends (prigoose.substack.com)
FractalU is a “school” for adults, taught from living rooms in New York City. We’ve run over 100 classes and taught thousands of students. Classes meet weekly and are held on evenings and weekends, since most of our students and teachers are working professionals.
Helmdar: 3D Scanning Brooklyn on Rollerblades (owentrueblood.com)
One of my favorite joys is exploring a city late at night on rollerblades.
NYC home prices rise 10% in early 2025 (qns.com)
The median sale price across New York City rose 10% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2025, from around $698,000 last year to $768,000 this year, according to a report by the real estate database site PropertyShark.
Taking on Musk, New York Considers Move to Close Tesla Dealerships (nytimes.com)
Elon Musk’s alliance with President Trump has prompted Democratic lawmakers to propose stripping Tesla of its ability to sell its cars directly to consumers.
Kids go to court in NYC with no lawyer: 'The cruelty is apparent' (gothamist.com)
Manhattan penthouse hits the market for $110M (6sqft.com)
The penthouse at the very top of supertall skyscraper 111 West 57th Street has hit the market for $110 million.
Proforestation: The case for leaving trees alone (mongabay.com)
In a quiet corner of northern New York state, the white pines of the Adirondack Forest Preserve rise like sentinels, untouched for more than 125 years. Their silence speaks volumes.
Swill Milk Scandal (wikipedia.org)
The swill milk scandal was a major adulterated food scandal in the state of New York in the 1850s. The New York Times reported an estimate that in one year, 8,000 infants died from swill milk.
Feds take control of Penn Station rebuild, kick MTA off the project (gothamist.com)
Trump admin halts $5B NY offshore wind project mid-build (electrek.co)
In its most aggressive attack against offshore wind yet, the Trump administration halted the $5 billion Empire Wind 1, already under construction off New York’s coast.
NY immigrants are receiving grim email: 'It is time for you to leave' (gothamist.com)
ICE Agents Realize They Arrested Wrong Teen, Say 'Take Him Anyway' (newsweek.com)
Federal immigration authorities apprehended a 19-year-old in New York despite realizing he was not the intended target.
1 in Every 22 NYers Is a Millionaire (secretnyc.co)
Henley & Partners' just released its 2025 World's Wealthiest Cities Report, announcing NYC as the wealthiest city in the world, yet again!
Fatal Accident at Universal Stainless Leads Steelworkers to Flag Safety Failures (hntrbrk.com)
A worker died this week while operating a crane at a steel mill in Dunkirk, New York, according to former and current employees.
Inside One of America's Last Pencil Factories (2018) (nytimes.com)
A pencil is a little wonder-wand: a stick of wood that traces the tiniest motions of your hand as it moves across a surface.
"Hands off working COBOL code" –protest sign in NYC (reddit.com)
NYC Software Devs Against DOGE (i.redd.it)
Bodega cats make New Yorkers' hearts purr, even if they violate state law (apnews.com)
Bodega cats in New York City are widely loved feline workers in the Big Apple’s convenience stores.
An AI avatar tried to argue a case before a New York court (apnews.com)
It took only seconds for the judges on a New York appeals court to realize that the man addressing them from a video screen — a person about to present an argument in a lawsuit — not only had no law degree, but didn’t exist at all.