1.
“Reasons To Love New York” December 2-15, 2024
New York’s 20th annual “Reasons to Love New York” issue catalogued 39 things that make us love this city at this moment. For the occasion, and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Saturday Night Live, the magazine corralled 60 SNL luminaries and photographer David LaChapelle to create a foldout cover. On Instagram, @sirstinson called it “a reason to still have print in 2024 — magazines that treat covers like art. I wanna see all 5 panels not on my phone screen!” Will Sloan said he “was doing ‘Where’s Waldo’ for Joe Piscopo and I found him.” Wesley Boutilier joked that he was “going feral over these covers like a tween buying Tiger Beat in 2004.” Inside the magazine, readers appreciated how the list captured the city’s unique charm. Commenter thanotoriousbab said, “I’ve been visiting NYC for just over 40 yrs. I return every year, sometimes 2-3 times per year. Every time I leave I think, Well, that was great and exhausting. I’ll be good for a while. Then after a few months I start to think of it — the art, the food, the people, the mischief … and I come back. It’s like a shot of the best booze in the world.” Other readers felt we missed the mark. Commenter dfc99 said “all very clever but nothing that improves the quality of life in NYC,” while babybokchoy wrote, “Saying SNL is the best thing about New York seems like the worst possible thing you could say about it.” The City’s Katie Honan said the many scandals of Mayor Adams and his administration led them to “dominate the top 10 Reasons to Love New York (but maybe not in the way they’d like).” Of the final item, about Geo Jedlicka and Patrick Ross, who fell in love while swing dancing, theduke said, “what a gift, ending this list with such a beautiful love story. It truly makes me love New York (and New York) more than ever!”
2.
“Revenge Does Take Time”
Elsewhere in the issue, Kerry Howley wrote about Trump’s list of enemies. Commenter dbuck78 said, “I want on the list. My resume needs sprucing up. Is there a fee involved? Does it include a Trump Bible, a Trump University degree? Whatever it takes I’m all in.” Wrote bayridgette, “We should ALL sign up. Get on those lists. Millions of us flooding his enemies list. I’m 84 and ready to take on the churlish orange toddler-dictator and his tin soldiers in obediently matching red ties. They’re all corrupt grifters, the whole slimy family and their hangers-on.” Reader mta1979 said, “My parents keep listing all the ways Trump will be checked — by the FBI, by the DOJ, by SCOTUS, by Congress. They refuse to see that these checks will have been eliminated at this time next year. They cannot grasp the institutions that kept lawlessness a little at bay will no longer be in play.” Pushing back, tell_them_theyre_idiots said, “These institutions are the source of lawlessness not the ones that ‘kept lawlessness at bay.’ ”
3.
“A Rift in the Family”
Ingrid Rojas Contreras wrote about ending her relationship with her in-laws after they gifted her a book by a eugenicist. Many readers offered sympathy and advice. Said joseph.hanania, “Beautifully written. And the fight takes a toll. While it is really tragic that her in-laws have so little mental bandwidth, I also wonder how much time and mental energy the writer must have expended in this battle.” Added carlllake, “The only good thing they did was to create your husband. Accept that gift and let them go. And don’t look back.” Commenter mrs.maximdewinter said, “Immigration is what makes America strong. It’s sad that these are your husband’s parents.” Phaedrus wrote, “Especially resonant is the curt ‘reconciliation request’ that includes no apology, no understanding of the issue or its impact, and certainly no desire to confront those omissions as a condition for reconciliation.” David M. Luebke said he was “so glad that I have not had to face this,” while Nate O said, “Anti-migrant thought is white supremacist thought. There is no light between the two.” Contreras’s mother-in-law was quoted in the Daily Mail, telling the tabloid, “Our daughter-in-law is a very talented writer, I think this article that she has written uses a writing device called verisimilitude — which is when you inject things that are not true to make your point”; she did not disclose what she viewed to be untrue.
Send correspondence to [email protected]. Or go to nymag.com to respond to individual stories.