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1. New York’s latest issue — “My New York” — marked the magazine’s 50th anniversary by celebrating the disparate characters and voices that make the city what it is. For the issue’s cover, artist Alex Katz revisited the subway sketches of his youth to create an updated series. “Genius,” Matthew Higgs, director of White Columns, posted on Instagram. “One to keep (along with Barbara Kruger’s still resonating Trump ‘Loser’ cover).” But the artist Aaron Krach lamented the introduction of cell phones in the tableau: “My God this is depressing,” he wrote. Allison Benedikt, Slate’s executive editor, tweeted, “Pretty psyched about this issue. I grew up reading New York in my Youngstown, OH bathtub, dreaming of moving to NYC.” Meanwhile, Cindy Adams, who was featured in the issue (“My Mishpocheh,” October 16–29), wrote, “Standing ovation to this week’s just-out New York magazine … Nobodies are in it and somebodys are in it. Everybody’s in it … a bow to the greatest, costliest, busiest, toughest city on Earth.”
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2. For the anniversary, we held a class reunion of sorts for 101 past and present employees of the Odeon (“My Tables,” October 16–29). Craig Holmes, who worked there as a waiter from 1984 to 1987, added a few stories of his own: “Such crazy times. Cher on a date with the young Tom Cruise. Warren Beatty hitting on the coat-check girl. Richard Gere was everyone’s favorite. He flirted with both the girls and the guys. Whoopi Goldberg generously picked up the check when half the Brat Pack actors bolted from her table. Madonna’s after-party, the night she hosted Saturday Night Live, was great. I have never seen anyone work a room the way she did. She only lost it when it was time to leave. Sean Penn couldn’t face the paparazzi waiting outside. ‘Seeeaaan,’ she whined. ‘Let’s gooooo.’ We all looked at each other and knew that marriage wasn’t going to last.”
3. Lisa Miller and Aude White surveyed hundreds of New Yorkers to put together a love map of the city replete with hookups, breakups, public sex, missed opportunities, and more (“My Assignation,” October 16–29). “Damn if this isn’t an addicting project … could read about New York love stories all day,” wrote Maddy Streets. Others were less interested in the “love” stories: “Is it bad that I’m only fascinated by the breakup stories?” @erinkellysays tweeted. Many noted that the stories seemed to neglect one borough. As Vox’s Dylan Matthews wrote, “My condolences to friends in Queens, where no one ever hooks up.” Maya Kosoff of Vanity Fair added that “this map tracks with what I know to be true of Queens: it is simply aromantic.” Twenty-nine stories were featured in the print issue, but there are 482 on the interactive online version.