Good Wednesday morning from a city where the buses aren't free, but could be? Here's what's happening:
- "Ultimately, you want a clean, safe riding experience, but you don’t want it at the expense of kicking these people, who are real people, to the curb," one Queens commuter told the Times regarding the cops and outreach workers who've begun their ramped-up effort to get homeless people out of the transit system and into congregate shelters.
- The NYPD said weapon confiscations in New York City schools have increased 80% from pre-pandemic levels.
- A group of moms are urging New York City Transit to stop making parents fold up strollers on MTA buses because it's a hassle and potentially unsafe when you're also trying to keep a baby or toddler from falling in a moving vehicle.
- TIL that the NYPD contracts out off-duty officers to guard private businesses, a practice that has jumped to its highest level in more than a decade.
- "'So, Putin is now saying, 'It's independent,' a large section of Ukraine. I said, 'How smart is that?'": Former President Donald Trump yesterday praised Vladimir Putin as "savvy" — and suggested that the U.S. should pull a similar move in order to invade Mexico.
- Cardi B, meanwhile, doesn't stand with Putin or NATO, but rather supports "the citizens" who don't need this mess.
- Here's a very detailed personal essay about what it's like working as a content moderator for PornHub's tube sites, which allow users to post their own videos that they often regret and want taken down.
- Expensive restaurants are now encouraging adults to draw on paper tablecloths with crayons.
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- And finally, this looks very satisfying:
