Alison Stewart: This is All Of It. I'm Alison Stewart, live from the WNYC Studios in SoHo. Thank you for sharing part of your day with us. I'm really grateful you're here. On today's show, we'll speak with cookbook author Margaret Eby. Her new book is titled, You Gotta Eat: Real-Life Strategies for Feeding Yourself When Cooking Feels Impossible. Also, musician Nour Harkati will be here. He'll perform live in our studio, and Booker Prize winning novelist Samantha Harvey joins us to talk about her latest book, Orbital. That's the plan, so let's get this started.

[MUSIC - Candelita Jose Iglesias: OMG]

Mets fans will recognize that song as one of the anthems of their playoff run this fall. It's called OMG, and it's from Mets infielder Jose Iglesias, who performs under the name Candelita. The song is one of 39 selections that made the cut as part of New York Magazine's annual Reasons to Love New York issue. Other reasons include to love New York in 2024. In the magazine, they say because the threat of prison forced Eric Adams to do his job, because Portal was hilarious, and because the Empire State Building posted, "I'm fine," on X after a 4.8 magnitude earthquake.

Choire Sicha is new magazine's editor at large, joins me in studio. Hi.

Choire Sicha: Hi. Thanks for having me.

Alison Stewart: And we want to take your calls on your reasons to love New York. All right, you joined us last year for magazine 2023's Reason to Love New York. Remind us, how does the editorial process work?

Choire Sicha: Sure. I basically lock everyone in a room for several months at work.

Alison Stewart: [laughs]

Choire Sicha: We do. Actually, we have a really bustling chat room of almost 100 people at the office, and we do this all year, because you know what? You look back in the year, "Do you remember that we had an earthquake this year?"

Alison Stewart: Well, I had brain surgery this year, so I was kind of-- I was a little busy.

Choire Sicha: Oh, really? Oh, yes, you weren't paying attention to earthquakes.

Alison Stewart: [laughs] But I do remember the earthquake. I remember the earthquake.

Choire Sicha: See, life happens and we miss earthquakes. We keep track in real time and then we fight it out. We really duke it out.

Alison Stewart: Did you notice any consistent themes over 2024?

Choire Sicha: Not really. I feel like what we saw was that-- we felt like New York had an awesome year. A couple years recently have been a little on the bubble. I mean, possibly personally and global. We thought New York was bustling. The parties are great, the restaurants are great, the stores are great, the buildings-- I don't know, New York feels really good right now. I mean, I just probably jinxed us, didn't I?

Alison Stewart: Listeners, we want to know about what 2024 was a reminder of why you still love New York. Call us or text us now. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. Was there a moment or a story or an experience you had that represented the best of what it means to live here? It could be something on the street, an encounter with a neighbor, a character, somebody in sports, anything. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. We're looking for the reason that you love New York. All right, so our phone lines blow up. We're going to go into your list.

It's interesting, actually. Before I go into the list, your editors wrote maybe more than a city of constant turnover or a city of selective about what we decide to keep. While we're a city of change, we are really discerning about what we decide to hold onto. Why do you think that's the case?

Choire Sicha: I think we're pretty choosy, first of all, but I think that we love an institution, like the way you love your deli. If your deli of two decades or four decades changes, you're going to be furious. My favorite deli cat just died a few weeks ago, and he was part of my life for 14 years. I met him and he knew me and we were close. You know what I mean? The other stuff, I don't care about it. It can all go away. The stuff that survives the test of time, even if you're mad at Saturday Night Live that is turning 50 years old now, you're still going to defend it to someone who talks smack about it at Thanksgiving.

Alison Stewart: Yes, that was the number one thing because SNL is how we talk about America. They're celebrating their 50th anniversary and various actors from the cover, it's kind of interesting. David LaChapelle did the pictures?

Choire Sicha: Yes.

Alison Stewart: So elegant. Why do you think SNL is a venue for the rest of the country to kind of see this is how New Yorkers are talking?

Choire Sicha: The stuff that goes on that show sometimes is just hysterically local. There's a lot of sketch stuff that just it shouldn't translate anywhere past 14th Street, essentially. We transmit that to America. That show represents New York to America and vice versa. It's like engaged in this constant dialogue and sometimes fight with the rest of the country about who we are and what politics is and about identity. It's amazing that it's been going. We've been beaming this to the rest of the world for 50 years. They must be very sleepy.

Alison Stewart: [chuckles] Another reason to love New York is because we got rid of brokers fees. All right, so what role does social media play in the development of this becoming a law?

Choire Sicha: Sure. Chi Ossé and compatriots have been trying to take away the process of forcing tenants to pay their landlord's broker. As we all know as New Yorkers, we have all paid thousands of dollars for apartments very unhappily. It's kept us poor. It is finally gone. She waged a war on social media essentially against the brokers. The brokers were unprepared. This passed with a veto proof majority. Eric Adams, who was tempted to do something about it, was tied. They fought this war and they won. I think progressive people in the city feel empowered to make change right now because of that.

Alison Stewart: We got some great texts coming in. "I love New York's historic buildings. Our heritage tells the story of New York City." Love that. Another text says, "October was a great month for baseball fans in New York. The Mets made the playoff and the Yankees made the World Series. What's not to love about that?" I'm still listening to oh my God, by the way. It says, "Loving the energy, Alison. Although the cost of living keeps going up. I love our museums, like the American History of Natural History Museum showing my toddler the T-rex skeleton come to life from our favorite bedtime book is just the best feeling ever.

Choire Sicha: Wow.

Alison Stewart: I do like that a lot of our museums on certain days are free.

Choire Sicha: Yes.

Alison Stewart: Let's talk to Suzanne who's calling or Susan calling from Manhattan. Hi, Susan.

Susan: Hi.

Alison Stewart: Hi.

Susan: Can you hear me?

Alison Stewart: Yes, you're on the air. Go for it.

Susan: Okay. What I love about Manhattan is a much smaller thing. I mean, I love all those big things too, but when I recently went to try to get a battery changed in my watch, I'm an old lady. I still wear a watch. I went to the normal place, the shoeman. No, he doesn't do it anymore. He said go next door and it was a barbershop and they changed my watch battery. I love that you can find those little things all over Manhattan and New York.

Alison Stewart: Great story. Thank you so much for calling, Susan. Hey, we want to know what was a reminder to you about why you love New York? Was there a moment or a story or an experience that represented the best of what it means to live here? Share with us. 212-433-9692, 212-433-WNYC. My ridealong for this is Choire Sicha. He's New York Magazine's editor at large. We're talking about their issue 39 Reasons to Love New York. All right. This is so great. The Bed-Stuy goldfish pond, you wrote, because several dozen goldfish in a Bed-Stuy puddle became the city's hottest tourist attraction.

This was big on my social media. I mean, I saw somebody call it the Bed-Stuy Aquarium tell people the origin of the Bed-Stuy goldfish pond.

Choire Sicha: I mean, one of the greatest stories of the year and one of the greatest New York things of all time probably. A little leaking fire hydrant formed a little puddle. These guys in the neighborhood decided to put goldfish in it. Some of the neighbors decided to kidnap the goldfish and try and save them. The goldfish were returned. We had a little class war. We had a little bit of things. What happened is you saw on social, people came from all over the world to see this.

Alison Stewart: Well, they made it look really beautiful.

Choire Sicha: Yes.

Alison Stewart: On top of it.

Choire Sicha: We consulted veterinarians. They weren't too concerned. Listen, we won't get into the pet ethics of this, but I love that you can make something here, and people show up from all over the world. It's wonderful.

Alison Stewart: Speaking of making something here, let's talk about the Chalamet lookalike contest. All right. This sort of started as flyers hang up around Greenwich Village saying that there was going to be a Timothée Chalamet lookalike contest in Washington Square Park. So many people showed up. So many. He showed up.

Choire Sicha: One provocateur, this young person named Anthony Poe has been throwing events. You may remember his cheeseball eating Union Square contest that he had. Spectacular. Not really a contest. Anyway, the Timmy Chalamet eating lookalike contest was wild. Someone got arrested. He was ordered to pay a fine. Mr. Chalamet attempted to pay that fine, which was very sweet. It set off a national craze of lookalike contests, which seems to be still going on. They're threatening to have one about the shooter this week, which we won't talk about.

Alison Stewart: We won't talk about that. We'll talk about Jeremy Allen White from The Bear in Chicago, and Glen Powell in Austin. There was something. Why was the origin in New York City?

Choire Sicha: Right. Because you know what? Part of it is, and that goes to the fine is like, you can get this many people in Washington Square Park, and there's enough cameras and there's enough critical mass, and there's enough smart people, and honestly, there's enough hot people who look like Timothée Chalamet here, too.

Alison Stewart: All different eras of Timothée Chalamet.

Choire Sicha: You get a lot of stuff.

Alison Stewart: We had a Wonka Chalamet.

Choire Sicha: Listen, he's a local high school kid. I understand why he showed up, but it was a little shocking that he just kind of waded in there. We're used to seeing celebrities, but having him be like, "No, it's me." It's wild.

Alison Stewart: This text says, "After going through many years of horrible bars and food, in the past two years, a lot of amazing spots have opened up and attracted people from everywhere." This is to your point. 2024 for some people, turned out to be a good year. The restaurants were buzzing in New York City.

Choire Sicha: Yes. We started going back outside with a vigor. Listen, I am not a young person. I am not every night, but let the young people in our office keep me in touch with things. I will tell you, the parties sound spectacular. People are out in the city now.

Alison Stewart: Let's talk to Marilyn from Chelsea. Hi, Marilyn.

Marilyn: Hi, Alison. Thank you for taking my call. My most recent reason to love New York was about two weeks ago, when I went to celebrate the birthday of a dear friend. We went dancing in the House of Yes in Bushwick. It started with an hour of somatic dancing, and the idea was drop. That was the theme of the evening. We had to drop into our bodies. After an hour of-- this dance floor full of people trying to drop into their bodies, we were ready, we were told, ready to go all out. The music was amazing. The result was a feast of exuberance, joy, and love, and everybody dancing with everybody.

Drummers came on a few occasions, and people weld wild, and some, including me, fell to their knees to beat their hands on the floor. I felt at the end of this evening, how could I ever leave this city if this is what you can do on a regular Thursday evening?

Alison Stewart: Love that. Thanks so much for calling in. She brought me where she was, the party.

Choire Sicha: That was great.

Alison Stewart: Let's talk to Dan. Hi, Dan.

Dan: Hi. I'd like to pay homage to Zingone Brothers. It's a small grocery store that's been operating on Columbus Avenue between 82nd and 83rd Street for at least 80 years. It operates for the neighborhood as sort of a general store would in a small town or a pub in Ireland. You catch up on news of your neighbors, very close community. We celebrate births and deaths, and it's just a wonderful touchstone to my childhood. It's a great place if you are a member of that community.

Alison Stewart: Thank you so much for calling in. Let's talk to Larry. Hi, Larry.

Larry: Hi. Can you hear me?

Alison Stewart: Yes, I do hear you.

Larry: Can you hear me?

Alison Stewart: Yes.

Larry: Hi. We come in from Brooklyn, from South Brooklyn or Sunset Park. We get on the ferry. We love to ride the ferry up and down the East River. It's so much fun. It's very cheap. Great views of Manhattan. We stop at Dumbo. We walk around there for a while. We come back on the ferry. It's exciting. It's fun. Any nice day, we'll try to do that. People should know about that. Use it more.

Alison Stewart: All right, Larry, thanks for the tip. Let's talk to Sarah. Hi, Sarah, thanks for calling All Of It.

Sarah: Hi, thanks for having me. One of the things I love about New York is that I can leave my house and pretend that I'm in another country. We have so many different cultures here, different languages, different food. It is the most diverse place in the world. Also, I went to that party at House of Yes, and it was amazing.

Alison Stewart: [laughs] Oh, my goodness. Love that. Love that so much.

Choire Sicha: We missed out, apparently.

Alison Stewart: Listeners, we want to know what about 2024 made you love New York. Was there a moment or a story? Our numbers 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. My guest is Choire Sicha, New York Magazine's editor at large. We're talking about the Reasons to Love New York. Let's talk about The High Line. Somebody, we thought-- I'm sure somebody's going to dial in and say they love The High Line. You have The High Line on here for very specific reasons. Why is The High Line on your list?

Choire Sicha: One of our reporters, James Walsh, was talking to a gardener at The High Line, and she said, "We keep finding human ashes in one small, beautiful corner of The High Line." In fact, she's actually identified a couple places now. What we found, and we surprised The High Line by telling them this, I think, was that people are making a memorial place for-- we actually don't know, human beings, parts of human beings, I mean, in ash's form, of course, or pets, perhaps. This is also, by the way, entirely legal in New York City.

You may leave human cremains many places in public parks, not ball fields. We ask that you get a permit if you put human cremains in the water. Other than that, this is a thing we can do.

Alison Stewart: We can do anything we want in New York.

Choire Sicha: [chuckles] I guess. This was a shocker to us, and it's very beautiful. It's on my list.

Alison Stewart: On your list. New York Magazine has its own list, 39 Reasons to Love New York. We're taking your calls at 212-433-WNYC. After the break, we'll talk sports.

[MUSIC - Luscious Jackson: Citysong]

Alison Stewart: You are listening to WNYC and All Of It. I'm Alison Stewart. My guest in studio is Choire Sicha, New York Magazine editor at large. We are talking about the magazine's new annual series, Reasons to Love New York, and we are taking your calls. Alicia's going to set us up perfectly. Hi, Alicia.

Alicia: Hey, there.

Alison Stewart: Hey, hey.

Alicia: I am calling in from Brooklyn and I have to shout out my New York Liberty WNBA team, our 2024 champions. Going to a game at Barclays Center is a blast. It's great for families with kids, great for anyone who appreciates sports in general. Also, it's awesome to see these powerful women who are really the best in the game. Plus, the incredible mascot, Ellie the Elephant.

Alison Stewart: You are right. The New York Liberty, they are the 2024 WNBA champs. [horn sounds] Yes, I had to include that. Can we talk about how much the Liberty captured the imaginations of New Yorkers?

Choire Sicha: Yes, this was-- and it was a huge sports year for New York like callers have said. The Liberty, six years ago, they were exiled in Westchester. They were playing in a tiny stadium, and now they brought the first pro basketball title to New York City since 1976. This is an incredible thing. They're an incredible team. The vibe is incredible. The ticker tape parade was amazing. This is such a great success story. What's not to love?

Alison Stewart: All right. The other great and success story of New York, Cole Escola. Cole Escola in Oh, Mary! The magazine says, "Because no one's doing better than Cole Escola."

Choire Sicha: Cole Escola was a downtime performer for a long time, beloved, and did this funny play. You first started hearing about this play where Cole plays Mary Todd Lincoln and you thought, "What the heck? What are you talking about?" This show goes gangbusters, transfers to Broadway, earns out in record time. Cole is now taking a victory lap and actually stepping out of the role and someone stepping in. That's just an incredible. It's just such an incredible New York story of success. It's leaving audiences delighted. That's wonderful.

Alison Stewart: Let's take a couple more calls. Bill is calling in from Manhattan. Hi, Bill.

Bill: Hi. This week we went to see the telecast of the Metropolitan Opera, Tosca in the afternoon. During the intermissions, all the people in the audience around and started talking to one of these each other. It was very friendly and very warm. Very special event.

Alison Stewart: We love it. Thank you so much for calling. Let's talk to Elisa. Hi, Elisa.

Elisa: Hello.

Alison Stewart: Hi, Elise. Yes, you're on the air.

Elisa: Hi, nice to talk to you.

Alison Stewart: Yes, nice to talk to you.

Elisa: I promised this wasn't a shameless plug just to get on the air. Two of my absolute all-time favorite things about New York are you and Brian, so thank you for everything.

Alison Stewart: Aw, thanks so much. We appreciate it. You'll never know. Next year, maybe next year.

Choire Sicha: Listen, you're on the long list every year.

Alison Stewart: [chuckles] Actually, somebody sent a text here, says, "Gotta ask, why 39? 39 is my favorite number, by the way." Why 39?

Choire Sicha: We never pick a number. We just sort of end up with what we end up with. You know what I mean? This year, I was like, "Oh, I really want to get to 50." Then we didn't because the reasons weren't good enough.

Alison Stewart: Very interesting.

Choire Sicha: We're tough. We're not just saying nice things about everyone who walks by. We're tough over there.

Alison Stewart: That's so interesting. This text says, "I got engaged in Central Park two weeks ago. My longtime boyfriend brought me up to one of our spots, the conservatory water with the toy boats from the Stuart Little for a 'photo out.'" Aw, that's a really sweet story. Let's talk to-- Who should I go with to? I should go to Stephen in Princeton. Hi, Stephen.

Stephen: How you doing?

Alison Stewart: Doing okay.

Stephen: I was walking in midtown last summer, and all of a sudden, a middle-aged Hispanic woman tapped me on the shoulder and I turned around and she handed me my money clip that had fallen out of my pocket, had $200 in it. That's why I love New York.

Alison Stewart: What a good story. That is so great. I do like to hear-- we've been hearing about Cola Escola and we've been hearing about the WNBA, the Liberty. People who are in New York are great.

Choire Sicha: Yes. I mean, New York has a lot of everyday heroes. We also help people around the world. This year, we looked at how New York first responders went to go help in the hurricanes. This year, we ship people to wildfires. New Yorkers actually travel the country, helping out people in crisis too.

Alison Stewart: You had one about kids and it was called Because Liam can Get Himself to Fifth Grade Just Fine. Tell us why this made the list.

Choire Sicha: This is a little evergreen for us. The fact of the matter is I think parents are talking about this a little more these days is what we hear. It's like, how young is too young to take the subway on your own? The answer might be younger than a lot of us have thought. What this writer who's been looking at this for a long time has found that it's like she says, "If you go into a Starbucks or you take the bus at a 3:15 in the afternoon, you're going to see a lot of 9, 10, 11-year-olds doing great on their own."

This is a thing you cannot do in the suburbs. You will be run down on the street. If you take a look at your kid, assess your kid, they can-- I think people are surprised by what they can do.

Alison Stewart: It's true. I have to tell you, New York City, you kind of go with God or your God. You put them on the subway, you hope they get there okay, and also, you have trackers on your phone now too.

Choire Sicha: A lot of these kids are tracked. It's funny. She said she stopped tracking her children. She's like, "Maybe this kid gets to school when he gets to school, maybe he goes to see friends afterwards. I'll find out later." That's tough. That's a long way to go.

Alison Stewart: Let's talk to Susan from Brooklyn. Hi, Susan.

Susan: Hi. What I love is when I'm in Manhattan and I come out of the theater or movie or dinner with friends, and I walk down into the subway and the train comes in a minute or two, and I'm home in 30, 40 minutes top. When the subways work the way they should, it's just a delight. You can get around all of New York City easily.

Alison Stewart: Thanks so much for your call. Somebody wrote, "Love that I can take a 20-minute L ride from Ridgewood, Queens and be in the middle of the holiday market in Union Square." This one says, "Sidewalks and bridges, New York's era--" Sorry, New York eras have agency. New York era has agency. Okay. "We can walk from Manhattan to Brooklyn on a bridge." Someone else wrote, "I love New York because people know how to walk fast."

Choire Sicha: I worry about this. I feel like-- I don't know, I feel like we might be losing that edge a little bit. I don't know.

Alison Stewart: Oh, do you really?

Choire Sicha: It's maybe just because the tourists are finally back and they're a little slower.

Alison Stewart: They are a little slower.

Choire Sicha: Bless them.

Alison Stewart: Let's talk about Damian Williams. He made the list. The outgoing US attorney for the Southern District of New York. He had quite a busy year.

Choire Sicha: He did. He was very ambitious. Now, because we have a new presidential administration, he has pre-resigned. If you watch the Diddy accusations and charges unfold, that's remarkable. He has pursued our mayor and the mayor's many, many friends. We'll see what comes of that. He really took people on, and I think we'll be lesser without him.

Alison Stewart: This says, "No need to rearrange your whole apartment to make room for a Christmas tree. The Bronx Zoo has lovely animal themed holiday light show, and the New York Botanical Gardens still has the holiday train show with NYC landmarks." That is from Christina in the Bronx. What are the main reasons that you love New York these days?

Choire Sicha: I actually am a huge fan of the accessibility of New York. Your subway collar really got me in my sweet spot there. I feel like that. You know what I love? I love that when you live in New York, you know who you have to call about X and Y. I have a friend. It's like, "Do I need to know who's the hottest person in the ballet right now?" I'm going to call my friend Wendy. Do you know what I mean? "Should I go see this play?" I'll call my friend Richard because Richard has already seen and Richard will say, "Don't waste your time." Having that backbone of New Yorker in your life is key to me.

Alison Stewart: Let's talk to Susan from Manhattan. Hi, Susan, thanks for calling All Of It.

Speaker 6: Hi, thank you for having me. I had a wonderful experience with New York Transit bus driver. I lost a bag. I had a lot of wonderful things, all my personal things in the bag. I called the lost and found, and someone answered and they were so great and so nice. I told them what my bag looked like. He said, "Is there gum in here?" I said yes. He said, "Tell me what kind." I told him what kind. He said, "It's my favorite." I came to get my bag to retrieve my bag and I brought him the gum, a pack of gum.

He was so sweet and it was pouring that day. He walked me downstairs and he got a bus driver to take me and my friend in a bus that was not in service yet. It was on his destination to drop us off at 57th Street, which is where I live. Just like that.

Alison Stewart: Love that story. Love that story. I love that. "What kind of gum?"

Choire Sicha: [laughs]

Alison Stewart: Let's talk to Sam in Manhattan. Hi, Sam.

Sam: Hi. I love New York, because on a random morning, I can get a notice on my phone about the 92nd Street Y program that's going to show a Billy Crystal film called Mr. Saturday Night, and he's going to be interviewed by Bette Midler. I wind up that evening watching these two New York legend schmoozing on a stage talking about life in New York, and it's just a wonderful thing to be able to do.

Alison Stewart: Thank you so much for calling. Let's talk to Harold from Midtown. Hi, Harold.

Harold: Hi. Great show. I live in Midtown. Native New Yorker. I recently lost my vision. I'm learning how to use the sight cane. It's the wild west out there, as we know. I make my way to the busy 2nd Avenue, and within moments, so many people are coming over to offer assistance. Young, old, different languages, male, female, "Do you need to cross the street?" "Which way are you going?" It's helping me really to learn and be bold. Love New York.

Alison Stewart: Thank you so much and good luck with everything. Everything. Theater for the new city. It's home to non-commercial adventurous theater with ties to off Off-Broadway theater greats. Delightful, creative, and still hungry. I like that as a possible tagline. Delightful, creative in New York, and still hungry.

Choire Sicha: So good. A classic of the East Village. Yes.

Alison Stewart: Thanks so much to everybody who called and texted in, and thank you to Choire Sicha, New York Magazine editor at large. Choire, it's good to see you.

Choire Sicha: It's nice to see you. It's great to hear everyone.

Alison Stewart: WNYC next year, I'm saying. Just go on, come on.

Choire Sicha: [chuckles] Fair.