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alex arriaga

@alexarriaga.bsky.social

910 followers 610 following 620 posts

local journalist | new york focus audience engagement editor

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alex arriaga @alexarriaga.bsky.social · Dec 11

So happy to share this @nysfocus.bsky.social report today!

We met with New Yorkers at a library in Albany, a community center in Syracuse, a church basement in Rochester and a town hall in the North Country.

All to ask: what do people want from local news? 📰

nysfocus.com/2024/12/11/w...

What New Yorkers Want From Local News

New York Focus traveled across the state to meet with communities about their local news needs.

nysfocus.com

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Lynda Lopez @lyndab08.bsky.social · 23h

Seeing pictures of an abandoned tamale cart in Pilsen where ICE took a tamale street vendor. Those photos of left behind carts are so haunting. Community members disappeared. Not just vendors but people who have long standing relationships with the community and people.

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Sophie Sherry @sophiesherry.bsky.social · 21h

During a military-style raid on a building in Chicago’s South Shore, one resident heard a knock on his door.   It wasn’t the feds — it was a mom and her 7-year-old daughter, pleading for help.

He let them hide in his unit for the next 3 days.

chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

Neighbor shielded 7-year-old during South Shore federal raid: ‘I didn’t want them to take her’

During the Sept. 30 raid one tenant protected a terrified girl and her mom. Remnants at the complex, including a detailed map of all the units, offer clues to what authorities may have known before th...

chicago.suntimes.com

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Heartland Signal @heartlandsignal.bsky.social · 22h

BREAKING: Masked Border Patrol agents aggressively arrested WGN video producer Debbie Brockman in Lincoln Square Friday morning, supposedly for "obstructing justice." (Video via Josh Thomas on Facebook)

Follow @heartlandsignal for more.

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alex arriaga @alexarriaga.bsky.social · 23h

Why do billionaires want to be cool so bad

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Jim Daley @jimdaleywrites.bsky.social · 1d

I'm at the scene where ICE abducted multiple people from Lincoln and Foster this morning.

A WGN producer was among the people taken, allegedly because she was among a group of bystanders who tried to intervene. ICE agents hit this car while making their getaway.

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Melissa Gira Grant @melissagiragrant.com · 2d

I wrote about Chicago: "Is this city burning? There is a definite answer to the question. In all these cities, the answer is no. No American city is currently on fire, and if Chicago is a war zone, it’s because it’s being invaded by the president."

Trump Is Waging War on an American City

The real threat to people in Chicago (and Los Angeles and Portland) is our maniacal president.

newrepublic.com

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Alyssa Katz @alykatzz.bsky.social · 1d

Your timely reminder that Donald Trump tried to claim NYC residence to take a $49,000 tax break on his Manhattan condo while he and Melania lived in the White House, only to get it yanked after my colleague and I caught the misrepresentation.

EXCLUSIVE: City nixes property tax break for Trump’s NYC apartment

New York City has nixed a $48,000 tax break President Trump was set to receive on his Trump Tower condo following inquiries from the Daily News about whether he is still eligible for the savings. O…

www.nydailynews.com

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New York Focus @nysfocus.bsky.social · 1d

New York's maximum weekly unemployment insurance payment is going up from $504 to $869, starting next week.

This is the first increase in unemployment benefits in six years, New York Focus reported in May.
nysfocus.com/2025/05/08/u...

New York Will Boost Unemployment Benefits, Labor and Businesses…

The state will spend $8 billion to pay off its debt to the feds and increase unemployment benefits for the first time in six years.

nysfocus.com

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Award-Winning Reporter Dave Colon @davecolon.bsky.social · 1d

Holy fucking shit: New York State is not going to expand the Cross Bronx Expressway with a "traffic diversion structure" nyc.streetsblog.org/2025/10/09/s...

State DOT Scraps Cross Bronx Expansion Road On Highway Repair Plan - Streetsblog New York City

The state Department of Transportation will not build a "traffic diversion" structure next to the Cross Bronx Expressway — a highway expansion project that Streetsblog exposed.

nyc.streetsblog.org

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Dave Jorgenson @davejorgenson.bsky.social · 3d

The Post laid off seemingly the remaining of their liberal-leaning staff members on Opinion last Thursday, when some of them were observing Yom Kippur.

from @oliverdarcy.bsky.social for Status
status.news/p/washington-post-opinion-cuts-adam-oneal

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New York Focus @nysfocus.bsky.social · 3d

NEW: The ICE detention center near Buffalo has banned book deliveries, New York Focus has learned.

Rejected books include a Spanish-English dictionary, a translation of a George R.R. Martin novel, and “The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work.”
nysfocus.com/2025/10/08/b...

New York’s Biggest ICE Detention Center Bans Book Deliveries

Rejected books include a Spanish-English dictionary, a Spanish translation of a George R.R. Martin novel, and "The Seven Principles for Making Marriage…

nysfocus.com

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alex arriaga @alexarriaga.bsky.social · 4d

Every morning I send out our Staying Focused newsletter, featuring our latest investigation plus some recent stories, updates and lately — a party invitation!

don't make me wake up early in vain. subscribe: nysfocus.com/newsletter

Newsletter

nysfocus.com

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Dan Kennedy @dankennedy.net · 5d

New at Media Nation: The @coloradosun.com embraces a democratic nonprofit model that looks a lot like a co-op. dankennedy.net/2025/10/06/t...

The Colorado Sun embraces a democratic nonprofit model that looks a lot like a co-op

For at least 15 years, local-news visionaries have been thinking about ways to build a media organization owned and governed by its staff and members of the community. The idea is to create a news …

dankennedy.net

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Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 5d

JUST IN: Chicago journalistsa re suing DHS and ICE over force used against reporters:

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

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New York Focus @nysfocus.bsky.social · 5d

NEW: ICE detainees in New York jails are struggling to access to legal advice, phone calls, and even their own court hearings.
nysfocus.com/2025/10/06/i...

ICE Detainees in New York Jails Can’t Talk to Their Lawyers

Some immigrants held in county jails are struggling to access legal advice, phone calls, and even their own court hearings.

nysfocus.com

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alex arriaga @alexarriaga.bsky.social · 7d

read about our listening tour: nysfocus.com/2024/12/11/w...

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New York Focus @nysfocus.bsky.social · 7d

When we conducted our statewide listening tour, we gleaned a sense of disempowerment from New Yorkers who felt they didn't have the information necessary to navigate the systems that dictate their lives.

We’re working to help rebuild a local news ecosystem that has faced years of relentless cuts.

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New York Focus @nysfocus.bsky.social · 8d

New York state helped hundreds of asylum-seeker families leave crowded New York City shelters to find housing and jobs upstate. Now, some of them have been swept up in Trump’s immigration dragnet.
nysfocus.com/2025/09/29/m...

New York Spent Millions to Resettle Them. Trump Is Deporting Them.

The Migrant Relocation Assistance Program helped families leave crowded shelters and put down roots. Trump’s immigration crackdown is upending that.

nysfocus.com

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The Intercept @theintercept.com · 8d

If the U.S. military does confront drug cartels in Mexico, it will find itself facing battle with its own weapons.

Trump Calls Cartel Members “Terrorists.” They’re Armed With Bullets From a U.S. Army Factory.

The president blames Mexico for the flow of drugs into the U.S. — while enabling the flow of guns into Mexico by slashing federal regulators.

interc.pt

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New York Focus @nysfocus.bsky.social · 8d

Almost half of New York's newspapers have closed in the last 20 years. New York Focus launched in 2020 to fill those gaps.

5 years later, we’ve grown into a statewide newsroom making real impact:
✨ Nearly 1 million annual readers
✨ 15 full-time staff
✨ Investigations that sparked real change

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Soren Spicknall @sorenspicknall.bsky.social · 9d

"Rodrick Johnson, 67, is one of many residents who were detained by federal agents during the South Shore raid. A U.S. citizen, he said agents broke through his door and dragged him out in zip ties."

Massive immigration raid on Chicago apartment building leaves residents reeling: 'I feel defeated'

The Department of Homeland Security said federal agents with Border Patrol, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested 37 people in the raid.

chicago.suntimes.com

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alex arriaga @alexarriaga.bsky.social · 8d

Oooh!

New York Focus @nysfocus.bsky.social · 8d

We have a new merch shop! 🥁

Support local investigative journalism with New York Focus swag.
www.rayguncustom.com/collections/...

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New York Focus @nysfocus.bsky.social · 9d

NEW: In theory, the process that determines your energy bills plays out in public. In practice, watchdogs say, the key decisions are made behind closed doors.

This week, lawmakers scrutinized the secretive settlement process at a hearing.
nysfocus.com/2025/10/02/e...

Lawmakers Scrutinize Secretive Process Behind Energy Bill Hikes

In a state Senate hearing on spiraling energy bills, consumer advocates lamented the closed-door negotiations at the heart of New York’s ratemaking…

nysfocus.com

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New York Focus @nysfocus.bsky.social · 10d

NEW: Eleven hour work days picking apples at a backbreaking pace, deplorable port-a-potties, and the threat of punishment hang over the workers at Wafler Farms.

The farm still isn’t following the union contract’s terms.
nysfocus.com/2025/10/01/h...

An Evening With New York’s Apple Pickers

An entire season has come and nearly gone, and Wafler Farms still isn’t following its union contract.

nysfocus.com

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alex arriaga @alexarriaga.bsky.social · 10d

I feel like a sitting duck