Melissa Minnich

Likes: writing, public parks, housing justice, making art, sharing meals, cities, used bookstores, spontaneous conversation.

Dislikes: running for buses.

[Melissa Minnich @mjminnich]

This. 💯

Adding a shameless plug for ArchiveSocial, New York City's social media archive of all content posted by NYC agencies and elected officials - whether it's still up or got deleted a millisecond after being posted: https://t.co/0H8eL4YXYn

[Davide Mastracci @DavideMastracci]

NEW: I wrote a small guide explaining how to archive things you see online and why you should. Archiving is essential for journalists, researchers and activists, and the more of us who get in the habit of archiving what we find, the better.

https://t.co/RoerUuDibo

[Melissa Minnich @mjminnich]

@C_Sommerfeldt @Fabien_Levy That map should have been archived within @nycrecords' Government Publications Portal once it was published on 12/31/25, but I'm not seeing it. Is that something else they failed to do? - https://t.co/TmkpOUYzQy

[Anish Moonka @anishmoonka]

Before you press the iPhone shutter, Apple's camera has already taken 9 photos. An AI processes them before your finger lifts, decides what the sky should look like, what the grass should look like, and builds the final image from there. What you get is not the scene. It is a reconstruction.

That reconstruction is called Deep Fusion. It captures 8 quick exposures and 1 long one, analyzes them pixel by pixel, and applies different AI processing to each zone it identifies: sky, foliage, skin, fabric. Bold blues. Punchy greens. Shadow detail pulled up so nothing goes dark. The output is what Apple's algorithm learned, from millions of user-rated photos, that a good image should look like. It looks like a nice day. It looks like every other iPhone photo of a nice day.

The film camera on the right recorded what was actually there. Its sky is slightly washed out because the sky was slightly washed out. Greens are murkier because the light coming through those trees was softer, not because an algorithm decided they should be. That is the scene.

Film's chemical emulsion (the light-sensitive coating on the film) fades through bright and dark areas gradually. The iPhone's processing cuts off sharply at both ends. Your eye reads the gradual fade as natural. An algorithm trained on social media engagement reads the same image as underexposed.

The photography market has been responding to this for years, and the numbers show exactly how far it has gone. Film sales climbed 40% between 2020 and 2024. Fujifilm expanded production capacity by 22% last year to keep pace. Kodak saw an 18% jump in color film sales after launching new emulsions in 2023. The photographic film market hit $2.86 billion in 2024, projected at $4 billion by 2031, with 35% of its 42 million active users under 30, the generation that grew up with an iPhone already in their pocket, choosing to go backward.

In 2025, humanity will take 2.1 trillion photos, 94% of them on smartphones. That is 61,400 AI-processed images every second. Every one teaches the system a bit more about what humans call beautiful. And every film roll sold is a vote that says it got the lesson wrong.

[Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @NYCMayor]

On Juneteenth, we honor the generations of Black New Yorkers whose struggle and determination brought us closer to justice.

At Foley Square, Lorenzo Pace's sculpture stands as a powerful tribute to that legacy. Our documentary explores Dr. Pace's life, his work, and his decades-long commitment to the ongoing fight for liberation.

This Juneteenth, let us not forget that pursuit of freedom is not buried in the past. It is the responsibility of our future.

[NYC Dept of Records @nycrecords]

If you're a @nyknicks fan, you may know that the original - and still official - name of the basketball team is the New York Knickerbockers. But where did the name "Knickerbocker" come from? And how is it connected to NYC? 🏀

Find out here: https://t.co/FnESDEQuah

#AlwaysKnicks

[NYC Dept of Records @nycrecords]

Let's make NYC history. 🏀

#AlwaysKnicks #Knicks

[Melissa Minnich @mjminnich]

@THECITYNY As someone who works in City Comms and often finds myself bringing up and then explaining your publication (in a good way!) - thank you!

[The City Reporter @THECITYNY]

THE CITY is now The City Reporter!

The thoughtful reporting you’ve come to expect from THE CITY is not changing. And we are still here, holding New York City’s powerful accountable and helping you navigate this crazy city we all love.

More here: https://t.co/NQDufprpge

[katie honan @katie_honan]

Would have to be products from the Vatican. How many hot priest calendars are for sale at the Park Slope co-op

[NYC Dept of Records @nycrecords]

A recent blog post triggered a recalculation of the number of NYC mayors. Was it 111 or 112? The eventual conclusion was that our current mayor, @NYCMayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani, is mayor 112.

But what if that number is completely wrong?

Learn more here: https://t.co/CuIaHo8hDD

[Melissa Minnich @mjminnich]

FINALLY.

Thank you, congestion pricing.

[Streetsblog New York City @StreetsblogNYC]

The Chambers J/Z station is one of the oldest stations in New York City's transit system — and it doesn't look like it's been touched by the MTA since it was built.

But thanks to congestion pricing, it's getting a huge upgrade, reports @DaveCoIon.

[Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @NYCMayor]

Happy Tax Day, New York. We’re taxing the rich.

[Melissa Minnich @mjminnich]

@THECITYNY The City, Gothamist...then all the 24/7 gonzo journalists the algorithms have surrounded me with?

[Harry Siegel @harrysiegel]

New Lit NYC podcast about Mr. George Rex, whose occupation was listed after he froze to deatrh in Brooklyn in 1885 as "The Last Slave," how @nycrecords came across that entry and what they've learned since about his life, death and family https://t.co/m7mjaibDt7

[David Brand @DavidFBrand]

New Rent Guidelines Board meeting schedule just dropped

[Homeless Services @NYCDHS]

NYC needs you! 🗽

We’re at 50% capacity for the HOPE Survey and need more volunteers to help count New Yorkers experiencing unsheltered homelessness.

🗓️ March 10
🕙 10 PM – 4 AM
📍 Streets, parks, & subways

Make a difference. Register now at https://t.co/hcUCknkR01. #HOPE2026

[Melissa Minnich @mjminnich]

My spam folder always keeps me up to date on what @FBIDirectorKash and the @FBI are up to. 🔍

I'm glad they've figured out some way to make up that $1.8 trillion budget deficit.

[Melissa Minnich @mjminnich]

Hot mic moment for Allyson Friedman. What brand of biological sciences does she subscribe to (and teach)? 🐟🌳🧬

@Hunter_College @NYCSchools #FriedmanLab

[Rita C. Joseph @CMRitaJoseph]

I am outraged by the racist remarks recently made at a CEC 3 meeting regarding Black students at @NYCSchools . This rhetoric is unacceptable and I am calling for swift action to ensure thorough accountability.

[Melissa Minnich @mjminnich]

Because everyone needs more cats.

Right, @igraywill? 🐈‍⬛🐈🐈‍⬛

https://t.co/qeUP4N5Bim