Good Wednesday afternoon in New York City, where Grand Central Madison (the new LIRR station) has some cool mosaics. Here's what else is happening:

  • The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York has charged 17 New York City and state employees for fraudulently obtaining pandemic relief loans.
  • NYPD Chief Jeffrey Maddrey, who currently serves as the chief of patrol, will be promoted to chief of department — the NYPD's top job for a uniformed officer — now that Chief Kenneth Corey has retired.
  • Free community fridges in the Bronx that were set up during the pandemic are still being emptied several times a day by residents in need, and the volunteers who run them are struggling to keep them stocked.
  • A WalletHub survey ranked New York City the worst college town out of any big city in the country, largely because it's way too expensive to live here.
  • New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern pushed back at a press conference this morning after a reporter asked whether she met with Finland Prime Minister Sanna Marin because they're both women of a similar age.
  • Far-right "provocateur" Milo Yiannopoulos told NBC that he arranged the dinner for Donald Trump and white nationalist Nick Fuentes in order to "make Trump's life miserable" and to "send a message to Trump that he has systematically repeatedly neglected, ignored, abused the people who love him the most."
  • Bloomberg details the terrifying phenomenon of TikTok challenges like the "blackout challenge," wherein kids choke themselves until they lose consciousness (and sometimes die).
  • FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried claims he now has $100,000 in his bank account after his company's collapse.
  • Democratic politicians are calling in Dave Matthews to play at their rallies and get out the Gen-X vote.
  • Taylor Lautner (of Twilight fame) married a woman named Taylor and now they're both Taylor Lautner.
  • If you're going to spend money you don't have, do it in style with a metal credit card.
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  • And finally, fella knows what he wants: