Robert David Sullivan
@robertdsullivan.bsky.social
Production editor for americamagazine.org. BA in poli sci, former editor at Boston Phoenix, Boston Business Journal, CommonWealth mag and the New York Blade (LGBTQ weekly). Decided the "Top 100 Sitcom Episodes of All Time" in 2012. UWS resident.
So many of you seem to think that all of the people who disagree with you and half of the people who agree with you are horrible, and this must be so exhausting.
November 13, 2025 at 10:29 PM
So many of you seem to think that all of the people who disagree with you and half of the people who agree with you are horrible, and this must be so exhausting.
If you want two-person crews, stop evading the fares.
Do New York City subways still need conductors? Some say a second pair of eyes on the train helps keep passengers safe. But many transit advocates call it unnecessary, costly and an obstacle to faster service.
Does the Subway Still Need Train Conductors?
Gov. Kathy Hochul must decide by year’s end whether to sign a law that would mandate two-person crews on all trains, a practice critics say is costly and outdated.
nyti.ms
November 13, 2025 at 6:14 PM
If you want two-person crews, stop evading the fares.
What do I use instead as a fact-checker?
the New York Times is utterly finished as an organization in my opinion. we have moved beyond the need for the New York Times
November 13, 2025 at 5:39 PM
What do I use instead as a fact-checker?
Reposted by Robert David Sullivan
BU College Republicans president says he called ICE to ‘detain these criminals’ at Allston Car Wash
dailyfreepress.com/11/13/10/216...
dailyfreepress.com/11/13/10/216...
November 13, 2025 at 3:31 PM
BU College Republicans president says he called ICE to ‘detain these criminals’ at Allston Car Wash
dailyfreepress.com/11/13/10/216...
dailyfreepress.com/11/13/10/216...
"Most New Yorkers don’t drive, yet, due to our street design, we spend our days dodging heavily armed personal automobiles designed to protect the driver at any cost."
so uhhhhh is anyone going to do anything about the epidemic of drivers just blasting through red lights these days? @timdonnelly.com investigates: nygroove.nyc/why-does-no-...
Society broke down and all, but you really still need to stop at red lights
I can't believe we need to explain this one, but it seems that we really do
nygroove.nyc
November 13, 2025 at 3:12 PM
"Most New Yorkers don’t drive, yet, due to our street design, we spend our days dodging heavily armed personal automobiles designed to protect the driver at any cost."
"We moved ME-2 from Toss-up to Leans Republican... [Jared] Golden was a proven electoral performer who likely would have had better odds of winning than a replacement nominee."
centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/...
centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/...
Sifting Through the NJ/VA Results: Ticket-splitting, How Hispanic and Asian Voters Shifted, and a Place Where Politics May Still be Local - Sabato's Crystal Ball
Deeper analysis of the VA/NJ 2025 contests, as well as two House rating changes
centerforpolitics.org
November 13, 2025 at 2:53 PM
"We moved ME-2 from Toss-up to Leans Republican... [Jared] Golden was a proven electoral performer who likely would have had better odds of winning than a replacement nominee."
centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/...
centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/...
Reposted by Robert David Sullivan
For the 600K people who pass through every day, Penn Station is indispensable. It remains the busiest transit hub in the U.S. It is also widely abhorred. More broadly, it is a stagnant symbol of something deeper in America, a condition that afflicts so many attempts to get big things done: inertia.
Why Is It So Hard to Fix Penn Station? (Gift Article)
The nation’s busiest transit hub stands as a symbol of a condition that afflicts so many attempts to get big things done in America: inertia.
www.nytimes.com
November 13, 2025 at 1:12 PM
For the 600K people who pass through every day, Penn Station is indispensable. It remains the busiest transit hub in the U.S. It is also widely abhorred. More broadly, it is a stagnant symbol of something deeper in America, a condition that afflicts so many attempts to get big things done: inertia.
Reposted by Robert David Sullivan
god damnit
November 12, 2025 at 11:28 PM
god damnit
I shot a mean glance at a man in Reno just to watch him cry.
November 13, 2025 at 12:11 AM
I shot a mean glance at a man in Reno just to watch him cry.
Reposted by Robert David Sullivan
Much like senior apartments, teacher housing, and service worker housing, artist housing is an example of "we will tolerate new housing in our community but only if it is reserved for People Who Really Deserve It."
November 12, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Much like senior apartments, teacher housing, and service worker housing, artist housing is an example of "we will tolerate new housing in our community but only if it is reserved for People Who Really Deserve It."
Reposted by Robert David Sullivan
No no no begs every archivist. You are never going to be able to find anything. Please don’t start using emojis in file names. Who asked for this? What fresh hell is next?
November 12, 2025 at 10:38 AM
No no no begs every archivist. You are never going to be able to find anything. Please don’t start using emojis in file names. Who asked for this? What fresh hell is next?
Reposted by Robert David Sullivan
One of many problems with chemical weapons is that they’re indiscriminate, but Border Patrol revels in indiscriminate violence.
"President Donald Trump’s federal law enforcement crackdown has hit a disgusting new low, after federal agents reportedly pepper-sprayed a 1-year-old in Chicago and then lied about it."
Damning Video Shows DHS Agents Pepper-Spray a Baby
The Department of Homeland Security has denied it.
newrepublic.com
November 12, 2025 at 1:31 PM
One of many problems with chemical weapons is that they’re indiscriminate, but Border Patrol revels in indiscriminate violence.
New at America magazine: "U.S. Catholics have a crucial role to play in upholding fundamental human rights and democratic freedoms that are core to the Catholic faith."
www.americamagazine.org/features/202...
www.americamagazine.org/features/202...
U.S. Catholics are facing an authoritarian threat. The church has been here before.
The Catholic Church in the United States today is facing a crucial test. Will Catholic leadership accommodate and adapt itself to authoritarian power? Or will it offer leadership to give hope, oppose ...
www.americamagazine.org
November 11, 2025 at 6:12 PM
New at America magazine: "U.S. Catholics have a crucial role to play in upholding fundamental human rights and democratic freedoms that are core to the Catholic faith."
www.americamagazine.org/features/202...
www.americamagazine.org/features/202...
Reposted by Robert David Sullivan
QUESTION: What are the best books on cities and city-building published since 2013? Explain your answer. It’ll help update the “best 100 city-making books” list below that I published that year. Don’t forget to use the hashtag #UrbanismBookClub, to make the books easily findable forever! (in theory)
On the occasion of Elon Musk pretending that he reads books, I thought I’d reshare my “100 Best Books On City-Making Ever Written” article in @planetizen.bsky.social. It’s 12 years old and needs updating, and got plently of debate back then, but I’d still recommend most of these. #UrbanismBookClub
November 11, 2025 at 4:59 AM
QUESTION: What are the best books on cities and city-building published since 2013? Explain your answer. It’ll help update the “best 100 city-making books” list below that I published that year. Don’t forget to use the hashtag #UrbanismBookClub, to make the books easily findable forever! (in theory)
Reposted by Robert David Sullivan
Delivering coal to Newcastle
Bringing sand to the beach
Selling ice to Eskimos
Generating AI cat pictures to post on the Internet.
I mean, GenAI is absolute shit in any context, but the absurdity of burning an acre of rain forest for the thing the Internet is literally made from just kills me.
Bringing sand to the beach
Selling ice to Eskimos
Generating AI cat pictures to post on the Internet.
I mean, GenAI is absolute shit in any context, but the absurdity of burning an acre of rain forest for the thing the Internet is literally made from just kills me.
November 10, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Delivering coal to Newcastle
Bringing sand to the beach
Selling ice to Eskimos
Generating AI cat pictures to post on the Internet.
I mean, GenAI is absolute shit in any context, but the absurdity of burning an acre of rain forest for the thing the Internet is literally made from just kills me.
Bringing sand to the beach
Selling ice to Eskimos
Generating AI cat pictures to post on the Internet.
I mean, GenAI is absolute shit in any context, but the absurdity of burning an acre of rain forest for the thing the Internet is literally made from just kills me.
I knew I shouldn't have started heavy drinking in my 40s.
November 10, 2025 at 8:31 PM
I knew I shouldn't have started heavy drinking in my 40s.
The editors of America magazine: "It is not undocumented immigrants who threaten social cohesion in our cities, but rather the tactic of forcing them to choose between self-deportation or living in fear of arrest and detention."
www.americamagazine.org/editorials/2...
www.americamagazine.org/editorials/2...
The editors: Safe borders do not require terror tactics from ICE
When did the notion that we should protect our borders and regulate immigration devolve into a determination to unleash anonymous masked agents pulling people from cars, and to publicly celebrate the ...
www.americamagazine.org
November 10, 2025 at 6:57 PM
The editors of America magazine: "It is not undocumented immigrants who threaten social cohesion in our cities, but rather the tactic of forcing them to choose between self-deportation or living in fear of arrest and detention."
www.americamagazine.org/editorials/2...
www.americamagazine.org/editorials/2...
Reposted by Robert David Sullivan
they understand insurance. the entire premise of libertarian opposition to mandatory insurance is that they should not have to care about anyone else and be permitted to take risks. it's the same opposition to vaccination and taxation.
they are bad neighbors.
they are bad neighbors.
Tell me you don’t understand risk pools without telling me you don’t understand risk pools
November 10, 2025 at 4:32 PM
they understand insurance. the entire premise of libertarian opposition to mandatory insurance is that they should not have to care about anyone else and be permitted to take risks. it's the same opposition to vaccination and taxation.
they are bad neighbors.
they are bad neighbors.
Reposted by Robert David Sullivan
@colinbphoto.bsky.social caught federal immigration agents in an apparent photo shoot at the Bean this morning and I guess this happened:
While Border Patrol photographers snapped photos, one agent shouted, “Everyone say, ‘Little Village!’”
blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/10/b...
While Border Patrol photographers snapped photos, one agent shouted, “Everyone say, ‘Little Village!’”
blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/10/b...
Border Patrol Agents Pose At The Bean For Apparent Photo Op
The photo op came after agents tear-gassed a Little Village street and were spotted in the area numerous times. At the Bean, one agent shouted, "Everyone say, 'Little Village!'"
blockclubchicago.org
November 10, 2025 at 5:40 PM
@colinbphoto.bsky.social caught federal immigration agents in an apparent photo shoot at the Bean this morning and I guess this happened:
While Border Patrol photographers snapped photos, one agent shouted, “Everyone say, ‘Little Village!’”
blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/10/b...
While Border Patrol photographers snapped photos, one agent shouted, “Everyone say, ‘Little Village!’”
blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/10/b...
This has so much in common with "cull the Catholic Church," except the church doesn't have to win elections.
Cull the Democratic Party. Systematically chip away all the weak, corporate centrists and corrupt, gutless elected officials who refuse to fight and instead suck at the teat of the oligarchy.
November 10, 2025 at 5:31 PM
This has so much in common with "cull the Catholic Church," except the church doesn't have to win elections.
LBJ might have forced the eight senators watch him on the toilet, or he might have handed out envelopes of cash, or he might have blackmailed closeted gays in Congress. I don't see his relevance in 2025.
I don't care how Schumer himself votes. The bottom line is that as Senate Majority Leader, Lyndon Johnson would have last night had on his desk eight sealed mason jars with the severed hands of every senator who even thought about raising them to vote yes. As a majority leader should.
Chuck Schumer Helps Pull Democrats Back From Brink Of Courage
November 10, 2025 at 3:36 PM
LBJ might have forced the eight senators watch him on the toilet, or he might have handed out envelopes of cash, or he might have blackmailed closeted gays in Congress. I don't see his relevance in 2025.
Nate Silver: "something changed — and I was getting ready to eat crow. Late last month, Trump’s numbers began to plummet.... So what did Democrats do with their newfound leverage? Over the weekend, they just gave up."
www.natesilver.net/p/trump-made...
www.natesilver.net/p/trump-made...
Trump made a huge blunder on the shutdown. So why did Democrats cave anyway?
It's not entirely Chuck Schumer's fault, but the party needs new leadership.
www.natesilver.net
November 10, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Nate Silver: "something changed — and I was getting ready to eat crow. Late last month, Trump’s numbers began to plummet.... So what did Democrats do with their newfound leverage? Over the weekend, they just gave up."
www.natesilver.net/p/trump-made...
www.natesilver.net/p/trump-made...
Reposted by Robert David Sullivan
Some thoughts on the CR/minibus.
1 The Dems negotiating with Rs were not freelancing. They coordinated with Sen Schumer. A few were ready to give in on day one, others worked to maximize appropriations wins.
Those voting for the 'deal' are the ones furthest away from electoral consequences.
1 The Dems negotiating with Rs were not freelancing. They coordinated with Sen Schumer. A few were ready to give in on day one, others worked to maximize appropriations wins.
Those voting for the 'deal' are the ones furthest away from electoral consequences.
November 10, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Some thoughts on the CR/minibus.
1 The Dems negotiating with Rs were not freelancing. They coordinated with Sen Schumer. A few were ready to give in on day one, others worked to maximize appropriations wins.
Those voting for the 'deal' are the ones furthest away from electoral consequences.
1 The Dems negotiating with Rs were not freelancing. They coordinated with Sen Schumer. A few were ready to give in on day one, others worked to maximize appropriations wins.
Those voting for the 'deal' are the ones furthest away from electoral consequences.
Today there would be two trapped kids so that one of them could die.
Thirty years ago today, Doug Ross saved a boy trapped in a storm drain, and George Clooney became the biggest star in the world: youtu.be/bMxr5oM9GFI?...
Doug's Rescue | ER
YouTube video by ER - Emergency Room
youtu.be
November 9, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Today there would be two trapped kids so that one of them could die.
Reposted by Robert David Sullivan
UPDATE: Reached out to the Rev. Hannah Kardon, a United Methodist minister who was there that day and has been active in religious demonstrations at Broadview.
“They are making it clear that they are scared of prayer … it speaks the truth that what they are doing in that building is evil.”
“They are making it clear that they are scared of prayer … it speaks the truth that what they are doing in that building is evil.”
November 8, 2025 at 2:08 PM
UPDATE: Reached out to the Rev. Hannah Kardon, a United Methodist minister who was there that day and has been active in religious demonstrations at Broadview.
“They are making it clear that they are scared of prayer … it speaks the truth that what they are doing in that building is evil.”
“They are making it clear that they are scared of prayer … it speaks the truth that what they are doing in that building is evil.”