fractenberg

Getting NYC Event Permits is a Mess. They Want City Hall to Cut the Red Tape. Thousands of groups put on events in public space every year, but navigating the system system is “a maze,” said one East Harlem organizer.

A STICKY MESS: Red tape for use of NYC public space “doesn’t have to be this hard.”

“Sometimes,” she said, “the thought that runs through my mind is, ‘all we’re trying to do is dance.’”

NEW story in @thecity.nyc w/ snaps 📸 & video 🎥 from @fractenberg.bsky.social www.thecity.nyc/2026/03/10/p...

Thanks!

❄️☃️☃️ Brooklyn blizzard scenes

Local officials re-raised the Pride flag at the Stonewall National Monument days after the Trump administration had it taken down.

“ You’re legally required to [watch "Heated Rivalry"], I think, if you’re a gay hockey player. It’s fun and hot and insane that it’s on TV. Who can complain?”

🏒🏒🏒

Join the Club: ‘Heated Rivalry’ is Making Queer Hockey New York’s Hottest Sport The Pride Hockey Alliance has been bringing “hot queer friends” together for years before the buzziest show on ice.

“I don’t even know if I can remember the last time something like this happened where the buzz around one show or one thing has been this extreme."

www.thecity.nyc/2026/02/04/h...

Hundreds of nurses, veterans and community members held a vigil Thursday evening on the east side of Manhattan to mourn the death of Alex Pretti.

Who said NYC is boring now…

Is the MTA trolling us by playing upbeat Sinatra tunes this morning??🤣

@mayor.nyc.gov joined hundreds of striking nurses outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

LISTEN: ‘It Is Right To Hope? We're Going To Show Them That It Is.’ Mayor Zohran Mamdani spoke with the FAQ NYC podcast, his first sit-down interview since taking office.

Check out Mayor Mamdani on FAQ NYC for his first full sit-down interview since taking office:

www.thecity.nyc/2026/01/08/m...

Dozens of immigrant-rights advocates marched to the World Trade Center Thursday morning to protest Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem holding a press conference a day after immigration agents fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis.

If you live in NYC and can forgo that morning latte from the cafe for one year, you still won't have anywhere near enough money to afford a home.

The scene outside Manhattan federal court ahead of ousted Venezuelan leader Nicholàs Maduro’s arraignment on drug trafficking charges.

I can't wait for this new buddy cop movie to come out.

The ‘Godmother’ of Weed vs. Her Uncle, the DEA Agent Cannabis officials courted a rising pot star to join New York’s legal market. Then a stunning police raid upended everything and shattered her family.

Quite the Shakespearean yarn by @rosalindadams.bsky.social, featuring familial perfidy, an hours-long NYPD raid and a cannabis-driven entrepreneurial dream:

www.thecity.nyc/2025/11/20/g...

On Camera, Fed Agents Point Guns at Mother and Four Kids in Queens The agents came looking for a relative who no longer lived in the apartment, the shellshocked mother told THE CITY. Days later, her children are terrified to leave their parents' sides.

Federal agents were caught on video pulling a gun on a woman and her children after busting down the door to their Queens home:

www.thecity.nyc/2025/11/19/q...

I think the most enduring NYC slogan is “Post No Bills.”

I think it would pretty funny if the tourist shops started selling Zohran nesting dolls.

Cuomo Backers Burned $65 Per Vote, Including $13.3 Million From Bloomberg A blizzard of outside spending on ads, including a spot that linked Zohran Mamdani to 9/11, failed to move voters and may have even backfired.

A story about setting millions of dollars on fire: www.thecity.nyc/2025/11/06/c...

Password to Louvre’s video surveillance system was 'Louvre', according to employee According to an employee with knowledge of the system, the password to the Louvre's video surveillance system was simply "Louvre" at the time of the robbery last month.

It’s ok now because they updated it to “Louvre1789”

abcnews.go.com/Internationa...

Episode 455: The Kismet and the Anxiety of Street Photography Podcast Episode · FAQ NYC · 11/05/2025 · 48m

Delighted to share the latest LIT NYC podcast with you. With political activism rising in NYC, Harry Siegel and I sat down with Ben Fractenberg - Visuals Editor of @thecity.nyc to talk about street photography and protest photography. @fractenberg.bsky.social
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/f...

Crowd of Mamdani. supporters overflowing on Steinway in Astoria, @thecity.nyc

Mamdani Makes History With Victory in Mayor’s Race More than 2 million New Yorkers cast a ballot in a high-stakes election that smashed recent turnout levels.

See how each neighborhood voted in Mamdani's historic win:

www.thecity.nyc/2025/11/04/m...

Five Months of Fear, Fury and Heartbreak at 26 Federal Plaza As masked agents arrested immigrants in and around immigration courts, The City has been there to document what's happening.

Here's part of what's at stake in this election. THE CITY has been documenting immigration arrests in and around 26 Federal Plaza since the spring.

www.thecity.nyc/2025/11/03/5...

If anyone’s looking for their pineapple top, it’s currently on the tracks at Bowling Green.

Does Dan Smith know about this dude?? Is there gonna be a turf battle?

More to come, but confrontation still ongoing with the masked agents trying to leave Canal Street and a spontaneous crowd of counter protesters.

Portfolio: The Trap at 26 Federal Plaza Every day in downtown Manhattan immigrants arriving for routine hearings are targeted by ICE agents and taken from their families.

Very powerful and important work by Stephanie Keith: nymag.com/intelligence...

Federal Raid Outside Row Hotel Migrant Shelter Rattles Residents In what appears to be a first under the current Trump administration, federal agents targeted migrants just outside a shelter.

www.thecity.nyc/2025/10/17/r...