Gothamist76%
WTF, NYC? This was supposed to be a joyous summer. What happened? 72%
By Catalina Gonella26%
7/17/2026, 11:01:02 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 33 faulty reasoning types, including Anecdotal, Negativity Bias, and Halo Effect, with Appeal to Emotion as the most egregious example at 21.6% saturation with 223 hits. Analysis detected 2,003 faulty-reasoning hits from 1,032 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 64.6% and a BS Rank of 72% (5,874 of 20,517 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 71.40% of the article peer group.
New Yorkers were poised to have a generational summer.
After a particularly brutal — even lethal — winter that covered the city in disgusting piles of snow for weeks, New Yorkers couldn’t wait for warmer weather.
By April, the New York metro area burst into bloom.
On social media, users predicted this summer would be one for the books, and then, before long, summer arrived — and delivered on good vibes.
Aforementioned good vibes
It kicked off with Pride Month in June, with celebrations and marches taking place across New York City.
Then there were the Knicks, whose NBA Finals run brought the city together for watch party after watch party, before their first championship in decades ignited the streets with celebrations.
“The New York Knicks, they electrified the city in ways I've never seen before, not even for the Super Bowls, not even when the Giants won,” Brooklyn resident Sheldon Messer said on Thursday.
And it didn’t end there.
Screens in bars across the city flipped from basketball to soccer as the World Cup ramped up, continuing the city-wide watch party.
“ I will say it is so awesome to have it in our backyard,” said sports fan John Della Luna, who was eating lunch in Bryant Park on Thursday.
“Every four years this tournament happens – that's special enough.
But then to have it in our own backyard is really something extraordinary that I'm happy to be a part of even as a fan.”
And rent-stabilized tenants celebrated the first two-year rent freeze in the New York City Rent Guidelines Board’s history under Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
It felt like nothing could bring the city down.
Things took a turn…
Then came July.
A dangerous heat wave swept the city just in time for the July 4 weekend.
But as the World Cup went on and more teams were eliminated, it felt like another New York City neighborhood took a hit — whether it was Little Egypt in Astoria, Little Ecuador in Jackson Heights, or Little Mexico in Sunset Park.
Plus, the U.S. was knocked out in devastating fashion, 4-1, by Belgium.
“ A lot of places show the World Cup, so that's definitely a mood improver for a lot of people, [but] the interest went down after the United States got kicked out, and also the numerous scandals at FIFA really get on people's nerves,” Sunnyside resident Volker Detering said.
But it got more serious than that.
An outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease on Manhattan’s Upper East Side hospitalized 17 people by July 7.
As officials worked to identify the source by testing cooling towers in the neighborhood, dozens of towers tested positive, including those at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim, the private schools Spence and Dalton and a Courtyard by Marriott hotel, among other buildings.
And as the saying goes, when it rains, it pours.
Earlier this week, city officials urged New Yorkers to take extra care washing their fruits and vegetables to avoid getting cyclosporiasis — a parasitic illness that causes severe gastrointestinal symptoms.
In New York City, 374 people were diagnosed with the infection between May 1 and July 9 — about three times as many cases this year as it had by the same time last year, according to the city health department.
“ I'm a little nervous about it,” New Jersey resident Dan Conroy said.
“I try to keep abreast of what vegetables we're trying to avoid.”
Meanwhile, a second heat wave settled over the city during the last two days, bringing record-high temperatures.
Temperatures reached 95 degrees in some parts of the city on Wednesday, with the heat index reaching as high as 100 degrees.
And if that weren’t enough, smoke from wildfires in Canada enveloped the five boroughs, turning the city into a sticky, smoky hellscape.
“ As a father, it's hard to tell your kids that, well, it's not raining outside.
However, it's still hot enough where it's not exactly safe to be going outside.
It's hard to explain that to really young children,” Della Luna said.
On social media, New Yorkers noted the shift
X user @emilyagain pointed out the vibe shift in a July 13 post, noting the difference between June and July in the city, and giving each month a 9.5 out of 10 and 1.5 out of 10, respectively.
“NYC summer ending with diarrhea and wildfires,” City Councilmember Chi Osse lamented on X Tuesday.
But nothing can stand between New Yorkers – and New Jerseyans — and their summer
Despite it all, New York City life doesn’t stop.
On Thursday, Bryant Park and the surrounding areas were bustling at lunchtime, when there were hardly any tables to spare.
New Yorkers and tourists alike seemed undeterred by the smoky air or the ominous warnings about produce — with plenty of people munching on leafy salads.
Lower East Side resident Yolanda Ford said that as a lifelong New Yorker, nothing surprises her.
“ I've been here, and it's not anything — I think to a certain degree you become numb, so it's not anything out of the ordinary that I wouldn't have experienced in the past,” she said.
“ It’s been really, really good.
It's not anything really different, with the exception of the Knicks.”
Long Island resident Dan Egher was similarly unfazed, telling Gothamist he doesn’t “ let things like that bother [him].”
“ I think New Yorkers are resilient to a lot of things, and they take advantage of the opportunities and the good weather when it's around, and the good people that are around as well,” he said.
Plus, as an Argentina and Messi fan, the vibes are still very high in his book, with Argentina making it to the World Cup final on Sunday against Spain.
“ It's been great, I've been a fan of his for years, so I'm excited to see him again in the World Cup,” he said.
“Hopefully, Sunday they'll take it home.”
New Jerseyan Conroy, who works in the city, said there are more fun times to come.
“The summer is what you make of it,” he said.
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100%flagged-word coverageChi Osse
15 attributed words3.7% of attributed speech91% writer coverage
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