New York, New York (= New York City)

choi

(1) New York | Art of the Impossible; Zohran Mamdani is promising lots of things he can't actually do. The Economist, Aug 30, 2025, at page 19.

Note:
(a) Mamdani "is partly a fabulist. * * * most [of his proposals] are about as likely to become tangible as one of Italo Calvino's odd, enchanting, invisible cities. * * * Germany's capital, Berlin, is both a city and a state: its mayor has a role in passing federal legislation."
(i) English dictionary:
* fabulist (n): "1: a creator or writer of fables, 2: LIAR"
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fabulist


(ii) Italo Calvino
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italo_Calvino
(1923 – 1985; "Italian novelist and short story writer. His best-known works include * * * novels Invisible Cities (1972)")
(iii)
(A) States of Germany
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/States_of_Germany

State of Bremen consists of two cities: Bremen (on both banks of Weser river) and Bremerhaven (on the eastern bank of Weser). These two cities are not contiguous: Bremerhaven is 50 km (30 miles) north of Bremen, near Weser mouth. Weser is the second longest river in Germany (after Rhine),  derived from Old Germanic *waisōn meaning "flow." These two cities, even in between them, are surrounded by the larger state of Lower Saxony.

Modern German-English dictionary:
* Bremerhaven (proper name' etymology: from Bremer [click for etymology 4 in new page] of Bremen) +‎ [noun masculine] Hafen 'harbour')
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Bremerhaven
   ^ The English noun haven (meaning harbor) came from Old English hæfen.
(B) Mayor of Berlin is elected by legislative branch of the city, and is bot a ex-officio member of Bundestag. In fact nobody can hold two government offices at the same time. In the Web, I fail to find anything about Berlin "mayor has a role in passing federal legislation."

(b) in 2024, its [New York City's] GDP of $1.3trn * * * The newly elected mayor will need to propose a budget one month after taking office in January, when he will face an immediate shortfall of $6bn-8bn, according to Ms Champeny.
(i) In 2024, gross state products for New York State and California were $ 2.297 and $4.172 trillion, respectively.
(ii) "Ms Champeny"? The Economist did not introduce this person."

Ana Champeny is Vice President for Research in Citizens Budget Commission (CBC), a nonpartisan, nonprofit civic organization in New York City.

choi

(2) Making It There; No one seems to care about New York's 400th birthday, but it's a particularly important time to celebrate it. The Economist, Aug 30, 2025, at page 22 (in the "Lexington" column).

Note:
(a) " 'They're not doing squat,' says Kenneth Jackson * * * the theocrats in Boston were hanging Quakers to create a Puritan monoculture"
(i) English dictionary:
* squat (n): "slang : DIDLY-SQUAT [click it and you will learn: First Known Use 1963]"
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/squat
(ii) I knew Puritans were harsh and in 1636 banished Roger Williams for his religious belief, who went on to found Rhode Island and live harmoniously with Native Americans. But I did not know Boston martyrs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_martyrs

(b) "The amphibious [being good at land and sea] Dutch immediately saw the potential in New York's intricate tracery of waterways: the deep harbour, the protected passage eastward through Long Island Sound, and, most of all, the C to the continent's vast interior (and where the Erie canal would eventually join New York by water to Detroit and Milwaukee)."
(i)
(A) tracery
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracery
(read sentence 1 only)
(B) tracery
https://www.etymonline.com/word/tracery
(ii) "Hudson's reach to the north, where a valley opened westward"

That starts in Albany, New York -- through Utica and Syracuse. See top map in
geography of New York
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_New_York_(state)