Title: A Trip to the Whitney Biennial and NY’s Meme-Filled Instagram

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Janae Pierre: From WNYC, this is NYC NOW. I'm Janae Pierre. The Whitney Biennial, an event series called Date My Friend, and a documentary that captures the divide between New York City Jews. That's all ahead on this edition of the Arts & Culture Check In. First, here's what's happening in our region. Mayor Zohran Mamdani's pledge to freeze the rent for tenants in a million regulated apartments across New York City may have gotten a boost this week. The city's Rent Guidelines Board met for the first time this year to review the financial health of the city's rent-regulated landlords.

A board report shows a 6% increase in what's known as owner's net operating income. It's the third straight spike. Mayor Mamdani has called for a rent freeze, and his supporters say the data bolsters that position because it shows landlords are faring well, but landlord groups say the overall data covers up serious problems in a subset of buildings facing financial distress, like older Bronx buildings where all apartments are rent-stabilized. The board will hold a series of public hearings before a binding vote in June.

New York City's public hospital system is facing a federal lawsuit from a nonbinary doctor who alleges discrimination and retaliation at a Manhattan hospital. Danielle Peterson is a former dermatology resident at Metropolitan Hospital. Their suit says supervisors told Peterson not to disclose their gender identity and later pushed them out of the program. It also alleges Peterson was forced into a psychiatric evaluation and removed from clinical work after raising concerns. NYC Health + Hospitals did not respond to a request for comment.

In New Jersey, a man is facing federal firearms charges after prosecutors say he plotted to assassinate a prominent Palestinian-American activist. Prosecutors say Alexander Heifler told an undercover officer on a video call that he was interested in Molotov cocktails. Officials say Heifler assembled multiple explosives and planned to throw them at the home of Nerdeen Kiswani. She's the founder of a pro-Palestinian group called Within Our Lifetime. Kiswani says she will continue to speak up. Attorney information for Heifler was not immediately available.

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Janae Pierre: The 2026 Whitney Biennial is now on view and features 56 artists who explore themes of community and the impact of power in the US. This year's exhibition was curated by Marcela Guerrero and Drew Sawyer. For nearly a year, the two curators did over 300 studio visits with artists around the world to select who and what would be featured in this year's Biennial. Drew says there are quite a few artists in the exhibition who are either from New York City or based here, like Samia Halaby, one of the older artists in the exhibition. Drew says she was actually born in Jerusalem.

Drew Sawyer: She's represented by a series of kinetic paintings she did on her Amiga computer in the 1980s. She's amazing. She's going to tell you like it is, which I appreciate.

Janae Pierre: Drew says, when selecting individual pieces for the show, he and his co-curator, Marcela, wanted viewers to have a full range of emotions.

Drew Sawyer: In some cases, we wanted people to be a little bit terrified, or we wanted them to laugh, or we wanted them to maybe cry, both the tears of joy or sadness, through certain works. We wanted the range of works that some were a little bit more opaque, and we're going to have to make you work a little bit harder as a viewer to understand them, and then some may be more readily knowable within a few seconds of looking at it.

Janae Pierre: The Biennial also features works by Agosto Machado. Drew says Machado is an icon of queer performance art and activism who's been around since the early 1960s.

Drew Sawyer: He was at the Stonewall riots in 1969, became a caretaker for so many people in the 1980s and 1990s, during the first decades of the AIDS pandemic. In the last, I would say, like five years, he's been making these really beautiful shrines, altars to some of his friends who have passed away.

Janae Pierre: Drew Sawyer is the co-curator of the 2026 Whitney Biennial. He's also the Sondra Gilman Curator of Photography at the Whitney Museum as well. Drew actually showed me around this year's Whitney Biennial, along with WNYC's art and culture editor, Matthew Schnipper. After the break, Matt and I reflect on our favorite moments exploring the Whitney Biennial. We discuss that and more on this edition of the Arts & Culture Check In. Stick around.

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Janae Pierre: Welcome back to this edition of the Arts & Culture Check In. This is where we discuss a few stories from WNYC's Culture Desk with our editor, Matthew Schnipper. Hey, Matt.

Matthew Schnipper: Hi, Janae.

Janae Pierre: Before we get into this week's stories, man, the Whitney Biennial, that was so cool, wasn't it?

Matthew Schnipper: It was really fun to be able to actually see it. We got to see a solo, quiet preview, with the exception of a wealthy donor who got stuck in the elevator.

Janae Pierre: That's right. We got a VIP experience. You can say it.

Matthew Schnipper: Yes, we got a VIP experience.

Janae Pierre: What were your favorite pieces?

Matthew Schnipper: I love this piece from Aki Onda, which was made up of 20 radios.

Janae Pierre: Oh yes, that was a cool one.

Matthew Schnipper: They were all on like a little radio bleachers that they had created. It's a recreation of a piece from an artist named Jose Maceda, who is a Filipino, and he made, in 1974, a piece called Ugnayan. Basically, he recorded 20 different tracks of sound and had different radio stations in the Philippines, each of them play a different track. You needed to be in a place where you could have 20 different radios or some amount of the radios playing all these different stations to hear the music in unison. A radio is not necessarily an instrument, but he turned it into one.

Janae Pierre: Yes.

Matthew Schnipper: To recreate this, the Whitney, they went actually out on eBay and bought a whole bunch of old analog radios, and they got the tracks that he had used originally, and they are broadcasting them. They said hidden underneath this radio bleacher, I guess I can call it, was a radio transmitter. Each of these radios was picking up a station and broadcasting it. You can stand in front of that and hear. This was an experience these people had on New Year's Day in 1974. In one way, it's kind of a cacophony. In another way, it's a choir. I thought it was really special.

Janae Pierre: I thought so, too. I have to tell you, I don't think I've seen that many antennas in one space, ever. I was legit in awe when we walked into that gallery that featured Matthew Peacock's sculpture.

Matthew Schnipper: So cool.

Janae Pierre: All right. This is an interpretation of a coastal redwood tree, and he created this sculpture, y'all, out of braids, which he did himself over the course of, I think they said, 10 months?

Matthew Schnipper: How he was able to accomplish that much in 10 months is wild.

Janae Pierre: Amazing. So impressive. Over 3,500 braids. It looks like a tree. You have brown braids, orange braids, green braids.

Matthew Schnipper: The scale of this, I had heard about it, same as anybody listening here. Yes, it's very big. Whatever. It's the size of a redwood. It's really hard to comprehend until you are standing in front of this thing, which is, what, twice as tall? Probably 10 feet tall.

Janae Pierre: Yes, 8 feet wide.

Matthew Schnipper: It has the same sleek and curvy bark that a tree would have. It felt so tactile.

Janae Pierre: Yes. Really beautiful piece. Definitely got to make time to get back over there, because there was a lot we also didn't see, right?

Matthew Schnipper: That's right, yes.

Janae Pierre: Yes. Got to do that. Okay. You know, Matt, our chats oftentimes lead to some pretty cool access, and we were able to get a peek at the Whitney Biennial outside of business hours. This week, we were able to view a new documentary called Scenes From The Divide. That divide is between New York City's Jewish community. Can you talk about that?

Matthew Schnipper: Yes. This is a really fascinating, about a 30-minute documentary, that has been playing at IFC. The film follows a young woman, a Gen Z, the first New York City US-born and raised member of her family with two parents who are Ukrainian immigrants. She is a big Mamdani supporter, and it follows her as she's canvassing and up to election day. She's Jewish, and her parents are pretty anti-Mamdani and very anti-socialist and are confused. This divide is between the kind of generations and between Jews who are pro-Mamdani and anti. The film shows both sides, and it's an intense gulf.

Janae Pierre: Yes.

Matthew Schnipper: The end there is a, what, an eighth-generation rabbi, the guy who's talking?

Janae Pierre: Yes.

Matthew Schnipper: He even seems to be like, "How did that happen? I'm an eighth-generation." He's got his bona fides, and he talks himself about how his own views have evolved, but really meaningfully to me, he was talking about when older generations really fail to, I don't even want to say bridge the gap with younger generations, but understand even the source of the gap or try to reflect upon the gap with younger generations. That divide just will continue to crack. What did you think about it?

Janae Pierre: I thought it was very well put together. I loved how she hopped through communities. Specifically, I'm thinking of the scene when she and another friend were in Brighton Beach, and they were canvassing in that area and talking to voters, and it was just a back-and-forth. They didn't have to say much. They held up their flyers, and one lady said that she voted for Mamdani. The other guy overheard it, and they began to go back and forth with their discourse. The documentary, unfortunately, it ends so quickly, as you mentioned, after 32 minutes or so on election night, when Mamdani is declared the winner of the mayoral election. Yes, really nice piece. Go check that one out for sure.

Matthew Schnipper: Yes.

Janae Pierre: Speaking of Mayor Mamdani, if we can segue a bit, I know that you are keeping up with his cultural references. Do you have anything to add?

Matthew Schnipper: I'm excited to tell you. Mamdani listed his five favorite rappers.

Janae Pierre: Yes, I'm ready for this.

Matthew Schnipper: Can you guess a couple? What do you think? Remember, Mamdani is a young millennial, right?

Janae Pierre: Okay. Kendrick Lamar?

Matthew Schnipper: No.

Janae Pierre: Okay, the list doesn't matter.

Matthew Schnipper: [laughs] It's the first time you've been like, "He could have said Drake." His list was Nas, Jay-Z, Notorious B.I.G., Lupe Fiasco, and Common.

Janae Pierre: Okay. This is a solid list.

Matthew Schnipper: For someone who is 20 years older. [laughs]

Janae Pierre: Exactly. I was trying to think, like, "Okay, he's not even mid-30s legit."

Matthew Schnipper: That's right, yes.

Janae Pierre: Nas, first of all, Nas keeps dropping albums like he's in his prime. I can [unintelligible 00:12:00].

Matthew Schnipper: We may disagree on that, but yes.

Janae Pierre: Okay. Okay.

Matthew Schnipper: I just was like, "This is not--" I was very surprised, like, "Lupe Fiasco? Of all people?" Also, all men. I mean, he's not going to say Nicki at this point-

Janae Pierre: No.

Matthew Schnipper: -who has become like MAGA Barbie or whatever. I think that's what they say. MAGA Minaj, whatever. Like, oy vey. I was like, as someone who strives for him to feel cutting edge or whatever, I feel like if you asked him when he was running, he would be like, "Oh, Xaviersobased is the only person I listen to," or whatever. Now, he's like, "Lupe Fiasco."

Janae Pierre: Okay, Mayor Mamdani, give my dad his list back.

Matthew Schnipper: Right. Yes, that is what I feel like.

Janae Pierre: All right, let's segue to your desk now. There's a new event series that's coming from one coast and coming here. This one's coming from Los Angeles. It's called Date My Friend?

Matthew Schnipper: Date My Friend.

Janae Pierre: Is it exactly what it sounds like?

Matthew Schnipper: Yes, actually. For all the yentas out there, myself included, I think this is great. I've been married for eight years.

Janae Pierre: You're a good wingman?

Matthew Schnipper: Romance is fun. It doesn't have to be my own. Yes, I think I'm a good wingman. I love to set people up. This event is exactly what it says. You sign up, you fill out a Google form, and you say, "My friend is this cool guy, my friend is this amazing woman, and here's why they're amazing." You go up in front of a crowd, if you get selected, and you sell them, and you sell the audience on them.

Janae Pierre: Wow.

Matthew Schnipper: People can go out and try to date your friend.

Janae Pierre: Wow.

Matthew Schnipper: This has been in LA. They had a night in New York, which immediately sold out, and they added a second. I think what they found was Tinder, Hinge, whatever, yes, it made it easier to meet people, but it did take away some of the slower-moving elements of romance. It does still make a little bit artificial, that idea of maybe you'll go out and meet somebody. No, this is a dating event. Everyone knows what they're there for. This brings that and makes it analog.

Janae Pierre: Yes, and you have the support of your friend.

Matthew Schnipper: Yes.

Janae Pierre: Right? And who knows you best?

Matthew Schnipper: I thought this was a really lovely event.

Janae Pierre: Matt, when was the last time you hooked up a friend?

Matthew Schnipper: Literally two months ago.

Janae Pierre: Oh, come on, break it down.

Matthew Schnipper: I've shot other people's shots for them. Recently, actually, I was at a coffee shop, and someone had been like, "Oh, yes, this guy would be good for that person, whatever." I didn't know. I went up to the guy, and I was like, "Hey, somebody told me about you. I'm Matt. I don't know you, but I think you'd be great for her. Can I tell you about my friend? She'd be great. Here's her Instagram."

Janae Pierre: Oh my gosh. This is so cute.

Matthew Schnipper: When it's your friend, you have no skin in the game. You want it to work out for them. You almost have more courage when it's for somebody else.

Janae Pierre: Yes. All right, all right.

Matthew Schnipper: I tried to be a yenta on the front end, and then let them do what they want after I've made the match.

Janae Pierre: Okay. Before we get out of here, there's one more story that I'd like to discuss because it's certainly something that has come up in my friend group, and we even talk about it in our planning meetings, my team and I. What is going on with New York State's Instagram account? [laughter] Has it been hacked?

Matthew Schnipper: Yes.

Janae Pierre: Is it Gen Z?

Matthew Schnipper: The Ferry Instagram as well. Check those out. They are so weird. Hannah Frishberg, we mentioned that Hannah is a reporter on my desk. At some point, she brought these to my attention. She said, "What is up with these insane Instagrams?" How do I describe them? Imagine a Furby. Literally, a photo of a Furby run through a Photoshop filter, so it looked completely fried, and the Furby saying, like, "There's a big snowstorm coming," in Comic Sans font. That's how the Official New York State Instagram is communicating to you to observe alternate side parking or whatever.

Then the Ferry. There was a Ferry, when they were saying it's cold, there was a brick wearing a North Face jacket and Timbs, and I think a Yankees fitted being like, It's going to be cold on the ferry." I have to say, actually, whoever's doing the photoshopping on the Ferry is quite good.

Janae Pierre: That's a good one.

Matthew Schnipper: The Ferry account is good, but the New York Gov account, the artwork, I mean, it's pretty bad in an incredible way. I feel like we're going to see this in the next Biennial, perhaps. They just seem to have embraced this-- it's kind of just shitposting, basically, but from these official accounts, giving you official municipal information.

Janae Pierre: Yes. I wonder, are we seeing this in any other states?

Matthew Schnipper: Some. Some people have taken this approach up and abandoned it. This seems to have caught on in New York. It is weird. We talked to the two people that are running these Instagram accounts, and they said, "Look, this is how people communicate on the internet, and official Instagram, personal Instagram, whatever, we want to get our message across. This is what seems to work."

Janae Pierre: Yes. Message received.

Matthew Schnipper: That's received. It is working. We wrote about it. You wouldn't necessarily be writing about the Ferry Instagram on Gothamist or talking about it on the radio.

Janae Pierre: Right. You wouldn't be following it if you don't take the Ferry, but now I am.

Matthew Schnipper: Yes. Part of me was-- The headline for this was like, "Have they lost their mind? The New York State Instagram lost their mind?" The woman who runs this account wrote back, "Absolutely." [laughter] It's charming. I do think there is an internet literacy hill to overcome. I think people are going to look at that and do think, "Yes, has this been hacked? Why does it look like this?" I was surprised to see, in the comments, I don't know if it was Instagram comments or comments on Gothamist, but some people are saying, like, "I'm in my 70s, and I love this." It may be actually that this insane, bugged-out way of looking and speaking is becoming a lot more common than I expected.

Janae Pierre: Yes, I can dig it.

Matthew Schnipper: You can dig it?

Janae Pierre: Yes. You know, Matt, I failed to mention that it is officially spring. I know what I'm looking forward to.

Matthew Schnipper: What's that?

Janae Pierre: Getting rid of my coat. [laughter] What are you looking forward to?

Matthew Schnipper: Honestly, I'm looking forward to people putting stuff out on their stoops that I can take for free.

Janae Pierre: Oh, I'm already on it, my friend.

Matthew Schnipper: What did you get?

Janae Pierre: I got this cute little garden container for my balcony.

Matthew Schnipper: That's nice.

Janae Pierre: Yes.

Matthew Schnipper: That is the thing I am most looking forward to. I'm looking for people cleaning stuff out and leaving things out. Stoop sale, I'll take it. I'll pay money for your old junk.

Janae Pierre: I won't. I want the free stuff.

Matthew Schnipper: You want the free stuff. I love the free stuff.

Janae Pierre: I want the nice free stuff. You wake up early in the morning, hop in the car, drive around the nice neighborhoods. Yes, I am coming to you, Brooklyn Heights, and you get what you can.

Matthew Schnipper: It's just absolutely my favorite thing. My wife has-- She haven't walked along the street with me for long enough where I've just looked through a box of junk. She just doesn't wait anymore. She's like, "All right, just catch up with me." The patience for that is done after 10 years of this. You know what I got once? What's the name of the mayor? The "sheeeeeit." The mayor from The Wire?

Janae Pierre: Yes. Oh, RIP.

Matthew Schnipper: Yes. Seriously. I got a bobblehead of him. I think that's my favorite thing I found on the street when I'm--

Janae Pierre: What's his name? We got to--

Matthew Schnipper: It is Isiah Whitlock, yes. Isiah Whitlock, yes. I got that bobblehead. That was a prized possession.

Janae Pierre: Wow. That's a good one.

Matthew Schnipper: I think that one was the coolest thing I've ever found.

Janae Pierre: That's a good one.

Matthew Schnipper: Yes. I think we should do a future episode where we just walk around trying to find as much cool stuff as we can.

Janae Pierre: That will require me working on weekends, and I don't.

Matthew Schnipper: No, we'll just go on a weekday. We'll figure this out.

Janae Pierre: Park Slope, we're on the way.

Matthew Schnipper: Let's just go find some stuff.

Janae Pierre: Yes. I will say, all of my balcony furniture and tables, and things have come from a curb.

Matthew Schnipper: I didn't know we really had this in common. I'm excited about this.

Janae Pierre: I love this. Every time we chat.

Matthew Schnipper: We're more and more alike.

Janae Pierre: Wow, that's my pal.

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Matthew Schnipper: You're like, a foot taller than me. Oh God.

Janae Pierre: Who knew?

Matthew Schnipper: Yes. Happy spring, Janae.

Janae Pierre: Happy spring to you, too, Matt. That's WNYC's Matthew Schnipper, our arts and culture editor. This has been another edition of the Arts & Culture Check In. Thanks a lot for talking with us.

Matthew Schnipper: Thanks so much.

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Janae Pierre: Hey, Matt, got $12,000 for me?

Matthew Schnipper: Yes, sure. Do you take Venmo or pennies, or how do I get--

Janae Pierre: I'll take the pennies. I just need some money for these Jay-Z concert tickets.

Matthew Schnipper: Oh my God. All right. Cool.

Janae Pierre: I really want to go.

Matthew Schnipper: You really want to go?

Janae Pierre: Yes.

Matthew Schnipper: Jay-Z's not going to give you a ticket?

Janae Pierre: No, he didn't answer the phone.

Matthew Schnipper: What more can I say? What more can I do? Is this better? It doesn't cost $12,000.

Janae Pierre: He'll never let us in now. [laughter]

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