Matt Choi

Editor at Street Stack

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Articles

Orange and Blue Development Hell

1 month ago | mattchoi.substack.com | Matt Choi

Has something ever made you so happy that you’re embarrassed? To live and die by how five grown men play with a ball is not something to be proud of. I’m many hundreds of dollars poorer in the upper bowl of Madison Square Garden in a seething mass of orange and blue, watching the Knicks — A team I have supported for many years, and which has given me little in return —play the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.
NYC Mayor Mega Post: Can they do that?

1 month ago | mattchoi.substack.com | Matt Choi

The Democratic primary is on June 24th, and a way too long list of characters is hoping to be on your ballot (which, as a reminder, is ranked choice, meaning you get to vote for multiple candidates in your order of preference). To state the obvious, if you live somewhere other than NYC, by all means, save yourself and come back next week when we’re back to talking about nice parks and inane urban observations. Rather than subject you to weeks of local politics, I made one giant newsletter.
Street Cleaning Vol 5: America's Funniest Mayors

1 month ago | mattchoi.substack.com | Matt Choi

Lyndon Johnson once said, “When the burdens of the presidency seem unusually heavy, I always remind myself it could be worse. I could be a Mayor.” Mayors occupy a frustrating middle ground— in some ways more powerful than national politicians with direct influence on the lives of their constituents, but also beholden to the whims and budgets of State and Federal leaders.
Do it in the window

2 months ago | mattchoi.substack.com | Matt Choi

A lot of photos in this one so the email may be chopped off. Read on the website or in the app for the best experience. Last week, a friend gave me a ticket for the Alvin Ailey’s dance company. As I lined up outside their 55th Street studio, I watched a rehearsal through a row of windows on the ground floor, which you can see in the picture below.
One Hour: Work to the Bar

2 months ago | mattchoi.substack.com | Matt Choi

A lot of photos in this one so the email will be chopped off. Read on the website or in the app for the best experience. After 9 hours tippity-tapping on a computer in my little cubicle, the urge not only to move but to get outside a screen is strong. I left work yesterday and had to be at a bar just off the West Side Highway in an hour. The sun was out, so I walked. Every morning and evening a vignette of pure Gotham greets me outside work.
Street Eats Vol 3: Terroir de Brooklyn Queens Expressway

Mar 27, 2025 | mattchoi.substack.com | Matt Choi |Rob Stephenson

For a short time, my family belonged to the Park Slope Food Co-Op, when it still had a whiff of hippie and was less a cluster-fuck of neighborhood politics. The food was great—Farm-fresh and at prices that competed with local chain supermarkets. I was too young to remember much, but I do remember being stunned when my dad brought home a chicken with the feet still on. Growing up in a city inspired a strong appetite.
Water Edges

Mar 8, 2025 | mattchoi.substack.com | Matt Choi

There are a lot of pictures in this, so best to view in the app or on the website as the email will be cut off due to length. Towards the end of high school, a book swept across my friend's parents' living rooms and coffee tables. Certain cultural artifacts moved through these living rooms in waves, like a rabbit wine opener or Six-Feet-Under DVD box sets. They were rarely used but nice to look at.