1. “As Bill de Blasio nears what is likely to be a general-election landslide victory, the central questions are about just what he believes and just who he’d be as mayor,” Chris Smith wrote in a profile of the Democratic nominee, a self-described progressive (and former Sandinista supporter) running to replace a billionaire mayor (“The 99% Mayor,” November 4). “Interesting profile of New York City’s next mayor,” tweeted @larrybeer. “What a change from Bloomberg.” And then there was the contrast with that Democrat in Albany; wrote @taniel: “I hadn’t realized just how fascinating and layered De Blasio’s relationship with Cuomo will be.” At nymag.com, the profile drew enormous attention from supporters of Joe Lhota, rallying behind De Blasio’s opponent even as they acknowledged he didn’t have much chance of winning. “I think Lhota is a great candidate who is running one awful campaign,” wrote a reader. “I have liberal values, but they don’t belong within 100 miles of running New York City,” wrote another. “De Blasio is really kinda nothing but a political operative.” And from a third anti–De Blasio commenter: “I love it when progressive politicians try to pretend that they’re not Marxists—as if the term isn’t elastic enough to include them.” That got a little pushback: “Wanting the rich to pay their share of taxes doesn’t make you a Marxist,” wrote one reader. “Nor does building affordable housing or funding pre-K for NYC’s children.”
2. “There’s something about life in the big city that’s always required elixirs, tonics, various controlled and uncontrolled substances,” wrote Vanessa Grigoriadis in a story on the juice boom among high-achieving, high-anxiety urbanites. “Juice, pulpy Eucharistic beverage of a modern cult, accomplishes this and more, getting its devotees jazzed up, under control, and certain they’re living right” (“Juice Heads,” November 4). “A delightfully scathing exposé on the juicing/cleansing craze and, um, certain walks of life,” wrote Niki Achitoff-Gray at Serious Eats. “How could you live your life without the occasional roast, or a cheeky Big Mac at midnight, or even—and this is big—chocolate?” wondered Jake Cleland at the Vine. Others found juicing … less appealing: “Nobody denies that replacing fatty foods with fruit and vegetables in your diet is a positive move, but we’ve all known that since we were taught the food pyramid back in primary school. Juice cleanses won’t turn you into Beyoncé or Gwyneth Paltrow any faster than a balanced diet and regular exercise.” Readers on nymag.com were equally skeptical. “If you want to cleanse, go right ahead, but don’t claim that it’s the ultimate cure for all things personally, professionally, mentally, etc.,” argued a commenter. “That can be done way cheaper and smarter by making a kick-ass salad than with juice that costs $10 a pop that will make you ‘hangry’ 30 minutes later.” “Juicing is great for making fresh cocktails, not for homeostasis,” wrote another. “There will always be idiots. And so long as there are idiots, there will be people ready to sell them a dollar’s worth of nothing with a $10 markup,” concurred a third. A self-described juice devotee defended the trend (though her pitch seems unlikely to change minds): “Whatever. I love ‘juicing.’ It totally clears my skin and superficial rewards are the best rewards ever.”
3. “I can’t make anyone happy, no matter what I do,” asserted Sky Ferreira, a pop star with very un-pop influences, profiled by Nitsuh Abebe (“There’s Only So Much I Can Take. But I Have to Take It,” November 4). “I wish Sky Ferreira was nearly as interesting an artist as the press about her has suggested she is,” snapped one commenter. “Dead Eyes [a nickname for Ferreira online] is an icon for girls like me and I love her to pieces,” gushed another. “It would be refreshing to hear someone with artistic talent say, ‘Hey, I’m just having fun being young, successful, good-looking, and popular,’ ” a third mentioned. “It’s just too easy to spot the hypocrisy when people swear they’re all about the art, and don’t care about marketing and success.”
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