New York Magazine February 13-26, 2023

1 New York’s most recent cover story asked readers, “Do You Know How to Behave?” (January 30–February 12). Its 194 rules prompted much debate, with Susan Brannigan joking, “I’m so glad we’ve moved on from arguing about nepo babies to arguing about etiquette.” Christian Brown wrote that what makes this “new etiquette guide so good is reading and nodding along like yep yep that’s normal yep of course yep and suddenly: bam, you’re told you have to text your friends three hours after you hang out to confirm that you still like them.” BuzzFeed published its own “Terminally Online Version of New York Magazine’s Etiquette Rules,” featuring 61 social-media guidelines, while the Guardian’s Arwa Mahdawi offered her advice for “those of us who lead rather more mundane lives.” On Slate’s…

INSIDE: A beached-whale mystery / Jonathan Majors, movie star and poet / Crack-ups at the Oculus THE BIDEN PRESIDENCY IS OVER NOW. Or, at least, since Democrats lost control of the House of Representatives, its legislative-accomplishments phase is. If we go by either modern history or the professed goals of the House Republican majority, the remainder of Biden’s first term will be spent fending off debt-ceiling blackmail, government shutdowns, sundry investigations, and possibly some revenge impeachment. Of course, there’s always the chance that the pattern will break. In addition to his winning a second term, his party could conceivably regain full control of Congress. Still, in all likelihood, Biden’s legislative record is close to completed, and it’s not too early to venture some assessments as to how he did. The…

ON DECEMBER 13 , a 32-foot sperm whale swam to Rockaway Beach to die. When she beached around 8 a.m., surfers tried to push her flailing, charcoal body back to sea. But she was visibly battered, and her movements slowed. When a team from the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society arrived a few hours later, she was dead. During a typical week, AMSEAS might conduct aerial surveys of seal populations or recover cold-stunned sea turtles. But this winter, the group has been crisscrossing Long Island in an effort to keep up with a surge of beached whales. The Rockaways whale was one of ten to die within two months on area beaches. She was carved into blubbery panels so AMSEAS could perform a necropsy—the animal version of an autopsy—as part of…

JONATHAN MAJORS HAS an idea. We’re at the Whitney Museum to view the Edward Hopper exhibit, and he really thinks we should bring in our drinks. I am sure this isn’t allowed, but then again, this is the perfect setup for a rom-com-style first date. And have you seen Majors? The 33-year-old actor is irresistible: He’s tall and muscular (which means he’s a great hugger), he’s fine (a chiseled jawline; a striking nose; and full, pillowy lips), he’s a dog lover (he has four: Hero, Magi, Poet, and Captain), and he has a goofy personality that seems to make him unaware of his effect on you. How could I say “no”? It’s settled: We will attempt to smuggle our coffees into the exhibition. I’m hiding my chai latte behind my…

LOOK UP WHEN YOU WALK THROUGH the World Trade Center Oculus, and you can forgive almost everything: the $4 billion bill as the rest of the transit system starved, the skylight that was supposed to open but doesn’t because the rubber seal ripped, the underperforming mall with its dumpy little kiosks selling dumpy little souvenirs. Enter that hall, and it does what Santiago Calatrava said it would. Your eye is drawn up the marble walls and the white ribs, and you are reminded of the nave of a great cathedral. You can experience, as a commuter, a moment’s uplift. Cast your eye downward, though, and you’re back in busted-up New York. The white slabs making up the floor of the concourse are chipped and flaked at the edges. Corners are…

LAST FALL, SEPTEMBER 11 FELL ON A SUNDAY, AND KYRIE IRVING SPENT MUCH OF IT AT HOME IN WEST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, PLAYING VIDEO GAMES. It was rainy and quiet, and his life was uncharacteristically lacking in drama. Irving had won an epic standoff with the Brooklyn Nets and the mayor of New York over his refusal to get vaccinated for COVID-19. His teammate and fellow oddball superstar Kevin Durant had withdrawn a recent trade request to stick by his side. Nike was preparing to release the ninth edition of his best-selling sneaker. On his Xbox, Irving fired up NBA 2K23 and activated a geeky, khaki-clad, one-inch-taller avatar of himself. He also began to livestream on Twitch, monologuing dreamily for three hours and 40 minutes to an audience of a…