About
We read every desk in New York. You read one thing.
Most people piece the city together from a dozen feeds. New York Explained reads every local desk for you, every morning, and tells you what happened and what it actually means for your block, your rent, and your team.
Our mission
Local news in New York is either a doomscroll of crime and outrage, a tourist listicle, or a press release dressed up as a story. The part that is missing is the one that matters: what actually changed today, and what it means for the people who live here. Our job is to read the whole city, across ten categories, and hand you that, in plain language, before you finish your coffee.
We are not trying to replace the newsrooms we read. We are trying to give you the missing layer: one short, honest synthesis of the whole city and the state that runs it. We love this place without being a sap about it, which means telling you plainly who a deal really helps and who pays for it.
How it works
Every morning we read about 33 local newsrooms across the city and the state, organized into ten categories, plus the team blogs and the trade desks. We then:
- Cluster the day's stories so every outlet covering the same real event sits together.
- Lead with the straight account, built from the desks that just report it, so the first read is the cleanest version of what happened.
- Explain what it means: not just the headline, but why it matters for your rent, your block, and your commute.
- Name who benefits: who materially gains from the story playing out the way it is told.
- Cover the whole city: the outer boroughs and the state, not just Manhattan, and every local team.
The framework is human-designed: the ten categories and the questions we ask of every story. The daily reading and drafting is done with the help of AI that reads the actual article text from each source on that fixed framework. Because every story names the outlets it came from, you can always trace a claim back to the original. Curious about the ten categories themselves? See the desks we read.
Where the news comes from
Our sources are the local newsrooms that actually cover this city and state, chosen to span every category and every borough, not just the Manhattan-facing desks. That means THE CITY, Gothamist, the Post, and City & State for government; Streetsblog and amNY for transit; Eater and Time Out for culture; Chalkbeat for schools; Crain's for business; Documented and El Diario for immigration; and the team blogs for sports, upstate teams included. Every story names its outlets, so source breadth is something you can verify on the page rather than take on faith.
How we handle facts
We hold a simple line on facts: we state something as established only when two or more independent outlets corroborate it. A striking claim carried by a single outlet is attributed to that outlet by name, never laundered into the neutral record. When sources genuinely contradict each other, we flag the dispute rather than quietly pick a side. And we never invent numbers, reader counts, or testimonials.
Corrections
We get things wrong sometimes, and when we do we want to fix them fast and in the open. If you spot an error, email hello@newyorkexplained.com or reply to any brief. We correct the page and note what changed.
Ownership and funding
New York Explained is independent and founder-owned. It is not owned by any media conglomerate, political party, or advocacy group. It is funded by readers: the brief is free for everyone, and members who want to keep it independent chip in $5 a month and read it ad-free. Sponsorship, when it appears, is a single clearly-labeled message booked directly by us, never an ad network or a tracker, and it never decides what we cover or how. We do not take money from anyone we report on.
Contact and feedback
Questions, corrections, story tips, or just disagreement are all welcome. Email hello@newyorkexplained.com or reply to any brief; it reaches a real person. Want to see the ten categories next? Start here, or browse the archive.
Frequently asked
What is New York Explained?
New York Explained is a free daily brief that reads every local desk in the city and the state, about 33 sources across ten categories, then explains what actually happened and what it means for you, from City Hall to the trains to your team. The full brief is free every morning.
How do you decide what makes the brief?
Each morning we cluster the day’s biggest local stories across ten categories, lead with the straightest account from the desks that just report it, and then explain why each one matters for your block, your rent, and your commute. We aim for the stories that change something, not the loudest crime headline.
Is it really free?
Yes. The full morning brief is free for everyone, and nothing is paywalled. Readers who want to keep it independent can chip in $5 a month as a member, but that is a membership, not a paywall.
How is this different from Gothamist, THE CITY, or NYT New York Today?
Those are great newsrooms, and we read all of them. New York Explained is the layer on top: instead of one outlet’s lens, every morning we pull about 33 sources across ten categories, cluster the same story wherever it ran, and hand you one short read that names who benefits and who pays.
Does it cover the outer boroughs and the state, or just Manhattan?
The whole city and the state that runs it. We read past Manhattan tunnel vision: the outer boroughs, Albany, the MTA, and every local team from the Yankees to the Buffalo Bills. If it touches your block, your rent, or your train, it is in scope.
How often do you publish?
Every morning. Each brief lives permanently at a dated URL so you can cite it or come back to it later.
Where does the news come from?
About 33 local newsrooms across the city and the state, organized into ten categories, from THE CITY and Gothamist to Eater, Streetsblog, Chalkbeat, Crain’s, and the team blogs. Every story names the outlets it came from, so any claim can be traced back to its source.
Is the brief written by AI?
The framework is human-designed: the ten categories and the questions we ask of every story. The daily reading and drafting is done with the help of AI that reads the actual article text from each source on that fixed framework. Every claim names its source so you can check it against the original.
Who runs New York Explained?
It is independent and founder-owned. It is not owned by any media conglomerate, political party, or advocacy group, and it is funded by readers rather than by anyone it covers.
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