I'll explain how violent crimes in the NYC subway receive disproportionate news coverage, increasing fear among NYers. I worked in a NYC newsroom for many years. I was part of this process. My intent isn't to diminish the problem in our subway. It's perception vs. reality. A typical NYC newsroom gets an alert about a violent crime in a subway station or on a train. The editorial decision is made to put the story at or near the top of the line-up, or on the front page. Why? Because most NYers can imagine themselves in that situation.

Last night my cousin, Barry Feiner, who I called Uncle Barry, died. He was a proud Vietnam vet, very patriotic & a hoot to be around. His booming voice and full body laugh filled a room. Barry died from cancer. He's the 3rd person in my sphere to die from cancer in recent weeks. Barry lived for political debate. He loved challenging you and appreciated a person who could make a strong argument. The more convincing an argument you made, the more he respected you, even if he fundamentally disagreed with you.

The thing about Dave Chappelle's @nbcsnl monologue is he justified Jewish tropes, at a time when the overwhelming majority of physical assaults on orthodox Jews in NYC have been committed by young Black men & teens. Then there was the deadly 2019 shooting in Jersey City. David Nathaniel Anderson & Francine Graham, after killing a police officer, purposefully targeted an Orthodox Jewish owned grocery store killing 5. Anderson was an anti-Semitic devotee of the lies pushed by the Black Hebrew Israelites, also echoed by Kanye npr.org/2019/12/11/787…

Feel free to share this - I can't help but think that the alarming rise in anti-Semitism these last few years is directly related to a decline in history education in secular public schools, especially teaching about the Holocaust. Hear me out: I live in and grew up in NYC. When I was in 3rd grade, 9 years old in 1978, we all had to watch a documentary on the Holocaust in school on Holocaust Remembrance Day. It was a graphic telling of the killing of 6 million Jews. Jew & non-Jew were aligned in saying " Never Again"

I remember standing on a street corner in Sandy Hook, CT crying with @TVAshleigh as we felt the weight of the horrific grief all Americans experienced in the wake of the shooting at that elementary school. I remember how the outrage and disgust manifested into action. I remember thinking that the gruesome shooting deaths of 20 6 and 7 year olds and 6 adults would surely result in some sort of actionable measures that would change Americans' views on weapons designed to kill human beings; that surely those lives lost would result in change.

Thread on @NYCSchools Gifted & Talented Program: The G&T program has its roots in the city’s attempt to keep white middle class families from fleeing to the suburbs in the 70’s. They were called SP classes then (special) & I was on that track throughout my public school education Today, the G&T program is comprised of almost exclusively white children. More than 90% of students in G&T classes are white in a system where only 14% of the 1.1 million students are white. More than 65% are Black and Hispanic. The G&T NEST school is almost completely white.

THREAD: I want to tell a story about the scariest moment I had while reporting in a dangerous environment where there were heavily armed police in a chaotic, unpredictable setting. The recent police shootings had me thinking about it again. It was in Ferguson, Missouri. @CNN PJ @CNNDenverPJ and I were between protesters & heavily armed police every night as tear gas, flash grenades & smoke canisters exploded at our feet. Some nights we felt bullets whiz overhead. But the scariest moment happened one overnight at 3AM

The tone of TLC Commissioner's in call with taxi driver Richard Chow is disturbing & upsetting to all cabbies. Chow's cabbie brother committed suicide. @NYCMayor @nyctaxi commissioner's plan leaves it up to lenders to set terms for restructuring owner debt crainsnewyork.com/transportation… Without government stepping in to underwrite a debt restructuring plan, what incentive do lenders have to write down debt? The city created the mess for taxi drivers by fostering a market for overvalued taxi medallions, & then allowing @Uber & @lyft to flood the market.

Thread: Comparing my experience getting a #COVID19 test at a @NYCHealthSystem's testing center vs. a private urgent care center. At the urgent care, I waited outwside with a dozen or so other people. At Cumberland/Gotham Health on North Portland Ave in Brooklyn there was no wait. At Cumberland/Gotham Heath I was given hand sanitzer before entering tent. At @CityMD no one made me sanitize my hands, but hand sanitzer was availabe. At Cumbrerland/Gotham Health someone made sure I wore my mask properly. At the urgent care, a man walked in without a mask on.

THREAD: A positive story from NYC. Please retweet. This man deserves some recognition. While there was looting elsewhere, something extraordinary happened at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. A group of 5 young men who saw a rudderless movement going awry decided to change course. Earlier in the evening, thousands of protesters left the plaza & marched through Brooklyn. Back at the Barclays Center, these 5 young men took ownership of the space. They calmly persuaded people to take part in a candlelight sit-in and a dialogue about race and racism.