Shefali S. Kulkarni

What New York’s Waterfront Could Have Looked Like

There were a lot of pretty cool ideas for New York City's waterfronts. But it's pretty hard to build anything here. I helped write about the marinas and floating airports that never came to be. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/n...

Tracking U.S. Military Killings in Boat Attacks (Gift Article) In two months, the Trump administration has killed dozens of people it accused of smuggling drugs aboard boats. Here are the acknowledged strikes so far.

The New York Times is tracking the boat strikes as details become available. The strike locations and casualty figures are drawn from postings by Mr. Trump or Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and have not been independently confirmed by The Times.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

The Birth of American Music Podcast Episode · 1,619 · S1 E3 · Subscribers Only · 35m

I know I am late to this, but I want to share this excellent episode hosted by Wesley Morrris about the birth of American music.
Part of the 1619 podcast:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1...

A Prison Hospice Program for the Living and the Dying

Most people who die in prison die alone. Programs like the one at California Medical Facility aim to prevent that.

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/u...

Black Musical Theater, 200 Years and Running (Gift Article) The nearly forgotten Black stars, songwriters and strivers who made Broadway what it is today.

A great exploration of the great beautiful black history of Broadway
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Charting the History of New York’s Middle Eastern Community

“The purpose of the show is first to show that Middle Eastern and North African people belong to the city”

A New York Public Library exhibition features nearly two centuries of cultural, social & political artifacts on Middle Easterners & North Africans in the city.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/a...

Breaking News: The Supreme Court denied a request to consider overturning its landmark decision to legalize same-sex marriage a decade ago. nyti.ms/3Ju2Ayd

Is Your Flight Canceled? Share Your Story.

If your flight has been canceled on Nov. 7 or later, our team covering air travel wants to hear from you. Tell us how your plans have been affected, what you’re seeing at airports and how airlines are reacting.

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/b...

Live Updates: Flight Cuts Begin Across U.S. as Shutdown Hits Air Travel

The Trump administration ordered the cuts as the government shutdown leaves air traffic controllers working without pay. Disruptions at major airports appeared limited for now.

www.nytimes.com/live/2025/11...

As Shutdown Slows Air Traffic Training, These Schools Are Stepping In

New programs cannot turn out the numbers needed to make up for the controller shortfall. But they hope to have a higher success rate than the Federal Aviation Agency’s official academy.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/31/u...

On Prince Andrews Road, a Frustrating Effort to Get a New Address

Villagers in Hellesdon, England, are pushing to change the name of the street, but local bureaucracy makes it difficult.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/w...

The full transcript of Zohran Mamdani’s victory speech after being elected NYC mayor Mayor-elect centered affordability and the working people of the city in his speech while emphasizing: ‘Hope is alive’

“New York will remain a city of immigrants: a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants and, as of tonight, led by an immigrant.”
Full transcript & video of @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social victory speech (via @theguardian.com)
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Breaking News: Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old state lawmaker from Queens, will be the 111th mayor of New York. He will be the first Muslim to ever lead the city, as well as its first South Asian mayor and the youngest mayor in more than a century.
nyti.ms/47O4mT0

New York City Mayoral Election Live Results 2025: Mamdani, Cuomo, Sliwa (Gift Article) Get live results and maps from the 2025 New York City mayoral election.

New York City Mayoral Election Results

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Live Updates: New Yorkers Go to the Polls to Elect Their Next Mayor

NYC polls will be open from 6 a.m.-9 p.m.
Find your polling place: vote.nyc/page/find-yo...
Check your voter registration status: amiregistered.vote.nyc
**Remember that your ballot has two sides. Don’t forget to turn it over and vote for the proposals on the back. www.nytimes.com/live/2025/11...

Carlos Jimenez, a 24-year-old U.S. citizen, was on his way to work at a food bank when he was shot by ICE officers in what a DHS spokesperson calls “defensive shots.” On Thursday morning at approximately 6:30 a.m., ICE officers were at Vineyard Avenue in Ontario when Jimenez, who was not in the target vehicle, attempted to pull in front of the officers. According to Javier Hernandez, executive director of the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, Jimenez was trying to assist and provide aid to the person who was being stopped by ICE officers. After Jimenez was shot in the shoulder, the LA Times and LA Taco reported that he drove to his brother’s house so he could take him to the hospital.

ICE shot an American citizen and food bank worker who tried to block them arresting an immigrant by pulling his car in front of them.
After being released from hospital: "He is now facing charges for assault on a federal officer."
www.calonews.com/featured-top...

Why Can’t People Pronounce ‘Zohran Mamdani’? (Gift Article) Friends and foes keep getting it wrong. Mr. Mamdani says, “It’s pretty phonetic honestly.”

“Those who go out of their way to mispronounce it — that’s not a mistake, that’s a message.”

[[We know who "people" are. It rhymes with bassists.]]

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Nory Doesn’t Go to School Here Anymore

ICE deported 17-year-old Nory Sontay Ramos and her mother. Devastation met them in Guatemala.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/17/u...

Shout out to some great kids books about Diwali by great Desi authors:
- Raakehee Mirchandani's "My Diwali Light"

- Monica Saigal's "Papa's Butter Chicken"

More here: www.scholastic.com/teachers/tea...

a drawing of a lit candle with the words spark joy this diwali ALT: a drawing of a lit candle with the words spark joy this diwali

Wishing you all a very happy and prosperous #Diwali full of lots of light and love!

The Sari as Art, and Political Statement

The “New York Sari” exhibition at the New York Historical, which runs through April, shines a light on how the garment is more than just fashion.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/s... (by @alisha-hg.bsky.social)

D’Angelo, Acclaimed and Reclusive R&B Innovator, Dies at 51

After hitting No. 1 with “Voodoo,” D'Angelo's genre-melding 2000 album that he promoted with a risqué music video, he vanished for more than a decade.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/a...

And produced by: Rumsey Taylor and Michael Beswetherick. Rawan Sheikh Ahmad, Laura Boushnak, Emma Bubola, Ameera Harouda, Adam Rasgon, Raja Abdulrahim and Nader Ibrahim contributed reporting. Additional work by Duy Nguyen, Teresa Mondría Terol, Juliana Castro Varón and Ademola Bello

Worth noting the monumental effort of this piece written by: Vivian Yee, Lauren Leatherby, Samar Abu Elouf, Bilal Shbair, Iyad Abuheweila, Abu Bakr Bashir & Aaron Boxerman

We Tried to Reach Gazans We Interviewed Over Two Years of War. Here’s What Happened to Them. (Gift Article) We kept wondering: Did they find their missing relatives? Were they even still alive?

Some phone numbers no longer worked. Others had escaped Gaza. Some, we learned, had been killed... www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

@duolingoverde.bsky.social is going hard

White House fires much of the National Council on the Humanities The White House appeared to fire all but four members of the National Council on the Humanities, an advisory board to the head of the government’s grantmaking agency.

Not very humane wapo.st/3IRQBdg

How Should a V-Neck V?
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/29/s... (via The NYT Styles Desk)

The great @chhabs.bsky.social might know of some orgs....