Tag: nyc subways

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Time for the Sepender edition of our regularly scheduled Pook-Emu Bee Links.

Subway Stories

1 | These salvaged relics in a Brooklyn subway station are the ghostly remains of old New York buildings (Ephemeral New York. Sep. 28, 2026.)
I wouldn’t call this being restored to their former glory, but it’s something.

2 | MTA axes G train shutdowns planned for December after outcry from small businesses (Kirstyn Brendlen for Brooklyn Paper. Sep. 28, 2026.)
Fun fact for non-New Yorkers: The G train is the only non-shuttle line that runs directly between Brooklyn and Queens without going through Manhattan in between. It is also an oft-troubled line in the repair space.

Tech Replacements

3 | Fedora Discussion Raises The Idea Of Replacing LibreOffice With Collabora Office (Michael Larabel for Phoronix. Sep. 24, 2026.)
That is a stupid idea. Fedora should not do that. LibreOffice is a good default office suite (if one wants to ship a default office suite).

4 | US sanctions force The Netherlands off Microsoft and toward alternative NixOS-based software ecosystem — trial programs running now, first release expected at end of 2027 (Oliver Hansen for Tom’s Hardware. Sep. 28, 2026.)
U.S. sanctions of the ICC did not “force” the government of the Netherlands to do anything, as the first paragraph of the article itself notes. But since I use Linux instead of Windows myself, it will be interesting to see to what extent governments can make the switch work.

Military Conflicts

5 | Iran publishes propaganda letter urging US voters to punish Trump in midterm elections (Ronny Reyes for the New York Post. Sep. 29, 2026.)
I could state the obvious that I am not taking voting advice from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard. But let us go with a less obvious angle. 26 pages? Does the IRGC really expect me to read 26 pages? Moreover, are they aware that 1 USD is now worth more than 2.5 million Iranian Rial? If for no other reason than preserving tokens I would recommend they keep future communications to me to a strict 500 word limit. Thank you.

6 | Captured Hamas Spy Chief Helps Israel Take Out Three Senior Terror Commanders (Vijeta Uniyal for Legal Insurrection. Sep. 29, 2026.)
Hamas is finally showing the kind of cooperation that can lead to peace in the Middle East. Inspiring.

7 | Ukraine’s former defense minister launches ‘Manhattan Project’ for killer robots (Katie Livingstone for Defense News. Sep. 30, 2026.)
The problem with Giant Death Robots is that by the time you reach the end of the tech tree, you probably already made it to Alpha Centauri or won a domination victory, no? I don’t see how he is addressing that. Shallow. (Link for readers who never played Civilization.)

Video Games

8 | Danganronpa 2×2 hands-on impressions: Witnessing the exact moment Slayhem Mode takes the familiar killing game off the rails (Dorde P for Automation West. Sep. 30, 2026.)
I was mildly curious how they were going to re-do the Danganronpa 2 scenario. This sounds plausible. I may talk myself into this one but TBD. (They had better not kill Chiaki off early, however.)

9 | After Years Of Hard Work, One Of The Most Ambitious Super Mario Kart SNES Hacks Of All Time Finally Has A Release Date (Jack Yarwood for Time Extension. Sep. 30, 2026.)
Interesting. I’m curious what the new courses are.

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I was busy this morning and forgot to write daily Pook-Emu Bee links. But since tomorrow is newsletter day and there are no Pook-Emu Bee links on newsletter day, I figured I would publish a late-night edition of the Pook-Emu Bee.

1. Can subway rats give New Yorkers hantavirus? Only if you do something extremely disgusting (Natalie O’Neill for the New York Post. May 8, 2026.)

I wouldn’t put it past the TikTok “creators.”

2. Iryna Zarutska Murder Suspect Deemed Incompetent, But Case Will Continue (Amy Furr for Breitbart. May 8, 2026.)

He was competent enough to choose his target on that train car very carefully and deliberately. But not when it comes time for consequences. Many such cases, alas.

3. Military begins prescreening recruits for 28 medical conditions (Patty Nieberg for Task & Purpose. May 6, 2026)

Sounds like a good efficiency gain.

4. Texas-based teleradiologist wins court battle over California income taxes (Marty Stempniak for Radiology Business. May 7, 2026.)

I offer this “content” in California for free just to avoid the potential tax complications.

5. New York’s Teachers’ Unions Are So Progressive, They’re Even Alienating Teachers (Adam Lehodey for City Journal. May 7, 2026.)

I look at who wields power in New York City and conclude that Mr. Lehodey may be engaging in some wishful headline thinking.

6. Brooklyn Heights Greek Revival Asks $9.2 Million (Susan De Vries for Brownstoner. May 7, 2026.)

I like the plaster-work. Roof and garden are clutch. Monroe Place is a nice block. I’ll save up I guess.

7. Cobble Hill’s most expensive listing finds a buyer after a $5M price cut (Jake Indursky for The Real Deal. May 6, 2026.)

I’d take the Monroe Place above for half the price. Monroe Place is also better than Cobble Hill right across Atlantic.

8. Justice Department Finds UCLA Medical School Discriminated Based on Race in Wake of Explosive Free Beacon Reports (Aaron Sibarium for The Washington Free Beacon. May 6, 2026.)

UCLA forgot to tell the Department of Justice that it wasn’t supposed to notice.

9. Xteink blocks installation of custom firmware on some eReaders, launches a new Android-powered model (Brad Linder for Liliputing. May 2, 2026.)

I need to work on this project for an article already. Many such cases.

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I failed to post daily Pook-Emu Bee links on Sunday (out) and yesterday (work). But I return to you on this fair morning of April 28, 2026, with nine links from around the world wide web.

1. Hipster NYC straphangers fear third straight summer of hell on G train: ‘Here we are again’ (Nicole Rosenthal, Sofia Pozansky, and Haley Brown for the New York Post).

I remembered having published a short post about G train upgrades and assumed that I had published it here on ECS. It turns out I published it as a “Leaf Bud” short post on NLJ all the way back in August 2023, before this site existed. We can track MTA time through my link posts.

2. Obama-Biden Iran Negotiator Says Trump Doesn’t Have Enough Experts, Bemoans ‘Genocide’ in Gaza (Ira Stoll for The Washington Free Beacon. April 28, 2026.)

How do you write an article about Wendy Sherman without noting the leading role she played in prevening North Korea from obtaining nuclear weapons!? Wait. I’m getting an update…

3. “Pathetic. Keyboard Courage. Can’t Stand It” – Call Of Duty Movie Director Has A Dim View Of The Video Game Series (Damien McFerran for Time Extension. April 28, 2026.)

I never played Call of Duty and will not see the Call of Duty movie. But as an outside observer, it seems odd to choose as the director of a Call of Duty movie someone who is on record as holding the audience for said movie in contempt. For example, you would probably be unwise to hire me to direct a movie celebrating a game which makes heavy use of generative AI, right? But what do I know? I’m not a Hollywood executive.

4. Valve Confirms Steam Controller Release Date, $99 Price (Michael Larabel for Poronix. April 27, 2026.)

It looks tempting…

5. U.S. companies back Sam Altman’s World ID even as much of the world pushes back (Ananya Battacharya for Rest of World. April 27, 2026.)

The article notes three U.S. companies, at least one of which has engaged in censorship on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party, and a few countries from around the world. Oversell, under-deliver. With that being said, I too will pass on the Sam Altman eye-scan thing.

6. I Stumbled Across My Boyfriend’s ChatGPT and It Ended Our Relationship (Lindsey Hall. March 31, 2026.)

This article gives you a TMI feeling when you read it. I will link it less as a recommendation and more because it gives me an opportunity to dispense life advice: Don’t ask chatbots for relationship advice.

7. A telltale AI phrase is taking over corporate comms (Molly Liebergall for Morning Brew. April 24, 2026.)

It’s not AI, but… wait… yeah it’s probably AI.

8. Ralph Sampson: Why He Can’t Be a Winner in Houston, 1986 (Bob Kuska from Way Downtown, reprinting article by Fran Blinebury froom March 1986 issue of Basketball Digest. April 24, 2026.)

Looking back at the NBA’s first, and perhaps only, 7’4″ forward.

9. Fernando Mendoza, System QB (Mike Tanner for Too Deep Zone. April 20, 2026.)

No one with any credibility ranks Mendoza in the Trevor Lawrence S-tier of recent quarterback prospects. No one but the dedicated naysayers foresee an epic bust.

This line struck me as interesting since my understanding as a distant follower of today’s NFL is that Trevor Lawrence has not yet turned into an S-tier NFL quarterback (albeit I understand he had a very nice season in 2025.)

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I did not have much time to engage in my daily “feed reading” this morning. But I will not let that stop me from publishing my daily Pook-Emu Bee links.

1. Justice Department Files Case to Revoke U.S. Citizenship of Mastermind Behind Multimillion-Dollar Tax Fraud Scheme (USCIS. April 13, 2026.)

The marriage fraud allegations are a nice addition. It’s always who you least expect.

2. Meet the NYC teen behind Brooklyn’s new official pin — coming soon to a lapel near you (Katherine Donlevy for the New York Post. April 13, 2026.)

Although I am the internet’s leading chronicler of BLOB DYLAN, I do not approve the graffiti-train lapel pin. While I see the thought and skill that went into it, there are better ways to celebrate Brooklyn than (checks notes) Subway vandalism nostalgia. With that being said, having seen the state of things around Brooklyn Borough Hall, I am not surprised that Borough President Reynoso is on board (pun intended).

3. Toddlers at luxury NYC school locked out of community garden: ‘Second-class citizens’ (Katherine Donlevy for the New York Post. April 12, 2026.)

In the March 6, 2026 edition of the Pook-Emu Bee, I faulted the New York Post for locating a Columbia Street Waterfront District restaurant in Carroll Gardens. Here, I fault the Post for locating a Columbia Street Waterfront District community garden in Red Hook. While Van Brunt is Red Hook’s main commercial street, part of it is in Columbia Waterfront, including this part. What does the New York Post have against Columbia Street Waterfront District!?

4. Idol livestreamer psychological horror game announced for Steam. Investigate a disappearance by sending super chats and snooping through fan sites (Dorde P for Noisy Pixel. April 10, 2026.)

It looks mildly interesting. I will add it to the “new” visual novel to-watch-for-review list.

5. KTT x 80Retros GAME 1989 Orange (マリウス. April 12, 2026.)

Good mechanical keyboard switch review.

6. Ranking the top players in my server, part 2 (Cabbage at Cabbage Sorter. April 9, 2026.)

Cabbage rates the “top players” from her server in a Chinese dress-up gatcha game. I have never played this game and do not play gatcha games,  much less Chinese dress-up gatcha games (although choosing outfits is the best part of modern Pokémon), but her writing about the game is somehow entertaining. I could see myself writing a similar article if I played that game (or similar). Alas, I will leave it to Cabbage Sorter.

7. Yaezakura・八重桜 (Daniel Sofer at Hermosawave Photography. April 11, 2026.)

I conclude with pretty cherry blossoms. The trees are flowering hear in Brooklyn (before they leaf in May). This could be bad news for me.

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Quoted Chaos in notorious NYC subway station leaves straphangers crying in confusion — and canceling travel plans by Marissa Matozzo (nypost.com)
Content creator @worlds.worst.detective went viral in February when he posted a video of himself offering to help confused riders struggling to find the hated platform. He wore a sign that read, “Looking for Brooklyn & Queenz JZ? Ask me how to get there,” but the creator found that many locals would rather skip the station entirely or even cancel plans than attempt the wildly confusing transfer.

The New York Post published a report (of sorts) about commuters having difficulty navigating the labyrithine Fulton Street (Manhattan) subway station, which functions as something of a major hub in lower Manhattan. I call this a report of sorts because it was prompted by a TikTok practitioner who engaged in social media performance art by wearing a sign promising directions to the Brooklyn-bound J-Z trains. I have not been in the Fulton subway station in some time. While it does involve a good amount of walking to make some transfers, this New York Post article is very TikTok-brained. It misses the forest through the trees, where the trees are individual distressed commuters. The problem is that you now have people trying to navigate Subway stations whose entire concept of “navigation” is staring at their phone. Signs confuse them.

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I missed posting daily Pook-Emu Bee Links yesterday, but we are back in business on this rainy (in Brooklyn NYC, at least) March 3, 2026.

Links from around the web

1. On veteran rival’s turf, Nepal’s rapper-turned-leader takes a swing at power. (Sahana Bajracharya for Reuters. March 2, 2026.)

Out with the communists and in with the rappers in Nepal? We will find out on March 5, 2026.

2. Houthis express solidarity with Iran but do not launch retaliatory attacks—yet. (Bridget Toomey for FDD. March 1, 2026.)

Money must be tight for the Houthis these days.

3. Russia Struggles to Find a Response to U.S.–Israel Attack on Iran. (Pavel K. Baev for Jamestown. March 2, 2026.)

I believe in Russia’s ability to come up with words.

4. NYC transit crime spiked nearly 20% as subway ejections paused due to extreme cold: NYPD. (Amanda Woods, Craig McCarthy, and David Propper for the New York Post. March 2, 2026.)

“Law abiding New York City residents hardest hit (and stabbed, slashed)” theme continues to develop.

5. An upcoming California law requires operating system providers to enforce basic mandatory age verification (Andy Edser for PC Gamer. February 27, 2026.)

I was planning to try the People’s Republic of California Ubuntu spin, but now I may hold off.

6. Great RSS Feeds That Are Too Noisy to Read Manually (Evan Schwartz. February 25, 2026.)

Feed filters help in some cases, but not with these sorts of aggregate feed streams (Scour, the product he is pitching, is neat, although I haven’t found a specific use-case case for it in my own feed collection).

Clicking “Random Article” on NLJ

Planning and Angel Next Door Season 2 (Nicholas A. Ferrell at The New Leaf Journal. November 5, 2022.)

My third most-read article of 2024 came up when I hit “Random Article.” While this was something of a joke article, the real season 2 of the Angel Next Door anime is coming this year.