Alaina Demopoulos

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Alaina Demopoulos

Many shoppers know about the so-called pink tax – a needless markup on products marketed to women, even if those products are essentially the same, just cheaper, when sold to men. Personal care items such as razors, deodorants and shampoo fall into this category. But shoppers may be less aware of “pink tariffs”, or taxes on imported goods labeled as “women’s items”.

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Alaina Demopoulos

Like a yellow taxi or the pizza rat, the bacon, egg and cheese sandwich has become a symbol of New York City. You can find a BEC in just about any bodega, or corner store, where it serves as a cheap, filling breakfast, quick lunch or hangover cure. But with egg prices soaring across the country due to inflation and the worst avian influenza outbreak in history, delis are struggling to keep the price down.

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Alaina Demopoulos

Illustration: Sarah Mazzetti/The GuardianAs employers crack down on hybrid work, insisting that the US corporate class head back to the office, gen Z reckons with a dilemma. How do you appear to look busy enough to appease an ever-present boss? Thirty years ago, Seinfeld’s George Costanza had a theory: “Always look annoyed.” That way, “people think that you’re busy.” Today, performative productivity goes by a new name.

1 month ago | ca.news.yahoo.com | Vanessa Martir |Michelle Lhooq |Alaina Demopoulos |Rich Juzwiak

Bushwick is a dizzying, thrilling place to be. At Maria Hernandez park men pack into the volleyball courts, shouting over matches in Spanish, while children chase soccer balls around shirtless skateboarders. Reggaeton plays from passing cars and techno leaks out of nightclubs under the M train. Recent art school grads throw rooftop parties and split rent four ways, and European tourists roam the neighborhood’s industrial sections to snap photos of street art.

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Alaina Demopoulos

Partygoers dance at Paragon in Bushwick, New York, in December. Photograph: Marissa Alper/The GuardianBushwick is a dizzying, thrilling place to be. At Maria Hernandez park men pack into the volleyball courts, shouting over matches in Spanish, while children chase soccer balls around shirtless skateboarders. Reggaeton plays from passing cars and techno leaks out of nightclubs under the M train.