On the last day of my brief time as an editor at The Pilot, I told Sierra she was one of the brightest young journalists I’d ever had the pleasure of knowing. I told her she was destined for big things she couldn’t even yet imagine.
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Ana Ley
@La__Ley
Reporter , NYC transit beat. Board member . Tips, complaints, maps: ana.ley@nytimes.com
Ana Ley’s posts
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Sierra is dead now. She’s dead because a stranger fired a gun next to a crowd of people in downtown Norfolk.
Thrilled to say I’m now an editor at , succeeding the wonderful . Proud to oversee this badass group of reporters speaking truth to power in government, criminal justice and education systems
Adelante 🙌🏽
Aaaaaahhhh so freaking excited to see our names on A1 😫
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An update: Virginians *have* kept up the pace, and they’ve tripled the 2016 early vote total
The people who run New York’s subway want to replenish its battered ridership numbers, so they’re turning to discounts and convenience in hopes of getting more to hop on:
A million thanks to the ~150 New Yorkers who kindly DMed me for this story, which examines the growing pains of NYC’s bike share giant:
Hello, New York. I’m searching for people who use to learn about the user experience. Is that you? Please DM. Thanks!
If voters keep up this pace, Virginians will triple 2016's early voting numbers by Friday — more than a full week before the Nov. 3 general election
The has chosen to dock our pay for walking out -- an act that will mostly hurt the employees that the company pays least. I find that unacceptable, and I hope you'll join us for this Thursday's rally:
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There’s no better feeling than canceling plans, but plan we must. Join @NYTimesGuild members, @NewsGuild + @NYGuild for a picket and rally at 1pm on Thursday! All are welcome.
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Thank you (and also her mom) for this candid glimpse of what it was like to be the target of many, many, many complaints about the beloved but often maddening New York City subway // via
NEW, with : Cameras that failed to capture subway shooting were flagged as faulty days earlier.
. also called fellow lawmakers “chickenshit” for objecting to election results, but we can’t print that
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“I’ll tell you, I was just pissed off. I was so pissed off,” Sen. Kaine tells @La__Ley and other reporters today.
pilotonline.com/government/nat
Arriving at shooting at 36th Street in Sunset Park. If you know something, please DM.
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Congrats @La__Ley, who covered an incredibly difficult city in an incredibly difficult time.
Also to @thadmoore, @BetsBarnes, @elainemsheldon and all the other finalists.
wallacehouse.umich.edu/announcing-the
With the continent’s biggest public transit network on the edge of a financial crisis, we looked at the last time it slashed service to plug its budget — making New York harder to navigate and harder to work and live in
Critics saying this hed is what you get when you have editors in their 20s in charge
I moisturize and I’ll take it as a compliment
After hours of vitriol and misinformation, Virginia Beach School Board votes to make masks mandatory for students, staff
pilotonline.com/news/education
Help ma is making me weepy on my first day 😭😭😭
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Replying to @La__Ley and @nytimes
Te amo bella, Dios siempre cumple tus mas anhelados sueños porque los deseos de tu corazón son promesas cumplidas por Dios. Dios bendiga tu caminar y te de la inteligencia necesaria para que cada articulo que escribas quede en la mente de las personas que siguen tus historias
Since starting the NYC transit beat late last year, I've asked for this very basic document no less than three times - most recently through a FOIL request. Eight months, three partial charts and one automated response later, I still don't know how organizes ~80K employees
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In 2017, I filed a public records request with the @MTA, seeking a copy of their org chart
Today, 5 years later, they finally responded -- to tell me that they, a $17 billion agency, don't have org charts
Instead, they sent a link to their website: new.mta.info/transparency/l
“In journalism we reward good work in the face of human disaster, and that can be a hard thing to live with”
So fucking proud of my ride-or-die , who is not only among the best journalists but also best humans I know 👑
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Replying to @PulitzerPrizes
Congratulations to @washingtonpost. #Pulitzer
For months, has covered DC's protest movement for . In the paper's live story feed, she just commented on huge difference in police response during protests that took place last year compared w/ today's breach on the US Capitol
washingtonpost.com/?reload=true&_
. has asked me to speak to the newsroom about "how to cut through the BS when speaking to public officials" and there is truly no greater honor
The is pressuring us to return to the office in June. But RTO must be agreed on with as part of our contract. I hope management comes to the table today ready to fairly negotiate on all issues that matter to us, including wages, benefits, RTO and inclusion.
While Nevada has your attention do yourself a favor and follow the excellent journalists , who include
Over the moon!!! Thanks so much to all who voted ❤️
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The 2023 election results are in. Congratulations! @mustangalli, @brianmrosenthal, @hinklej, @jodieTVnews, @La__Ley & @HyuntaekLeehere were elected to 2-year terms for the IRE Board of Directors. New members of the Contest Committee are @WalterReports & @JohnRussell99.… Show more
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. just shared the news we've been waiting for at today's presser: the statewide number to call to pre-register for a COVID vaccine is 877-829-4682
The chaos in the days after the full kickoff of one of the MTA’s biggest & longest-running expansion efforts illustrates the challenges of changing America’s most complex transit system. Our dispatch on the rollout of East Side Access:
buenos dias ! super excited to get our student-run newsroom going this morning w/ our 2021 class 😄#nahj21 #MoreLatinosInNews
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Fighting back tears, the sister of a woman hit and killed by a school bus: "My sister died face down in a gutter on a cold, rainy day in Brownsville, Brooklyn, and she deserved better. Brownsville deserves better. Every neighborhood in our city deserves better."
Y'all need to listen to Top Latinos like me
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Congratulations to Ana Ley, Gary Harki and Margaret Matray of The Virginian-Pilot for First Place in Local news beat coverage or continuing story not in top 20 media market. @analey @GaryAHarki @MargaretMatray @virginianpilot @NewsWorrell
It’s been *a day* and this Toni Morrison quote is filling my head, thanks to :
“The function, the very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being.”
“In journalism, we at times portray crime victims as either completely innocent (“angelic”) or beyond redemption (“evil”). Most human beings exist in a space somewhere between those two poles.”
Amen,
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Today would have been George Floyd's 48th birthday.
niemanreports.org/articles/the-r
The amazingly talented and patient and I spent months riding one Queens bus at all hours, observing dozens of riders who were kind enough to talk to this nosy stranger for a profile of the Q23 route, which will always hold a special place in my heart 🚍
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Really important on-the-ground reporting from @La__Ley. Read every word.
nytimes.com/2022/05/31/nyr
I think for me this was the most upsetting detail of all:
"Bloomberg tracked how many seconds its reporters filed stories ahead of their competitors"
elle.com/life-love/a350
Who gave you permission to enter my home
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From the judges: "The Virginian-Pilot presents a well-reported and thorough picture of a group of people long discriminated against and unfairly targeted.
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Congratulations to Ana Ley, Gary Harki and Margaret Matray of The Virginian-Pilot for First Place in Local news beat coverage or continuing story not in top 20 media market. @analey @GaryAHarki @MargaretMatray @virginianpilot @NewsWorrell
This quote from @Saleen_Martin makes my day:
She asks herself, what happens if she ignores it? What happens to the Black intern who has to deal with something similar next time?
“What am I doing to help them if I’m just letting this crap fly? No, you’re going to learn today.”
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Racial slurs, made-up insults. Wishing harm on reporters. If a story touches on race or other disparities @Saleen_Martin, @La__Ley and @Denisewrites know the abuse is sure to come.
Thank you to all three of them for letting me tell their stories.
poynter.org/ethics-trust/2
Last writethru of the night: After four years of racially divided votes under a majority-white City Council, Portsmouth voters drastically changed course Tuesday by electing four Black candidates, including a new mayor, to lead this majority-Black city.
Feels like an appropriate day to share this excellent piece:
"If you want to map inequality in New York, you can just count trees."
(h/t )
on today’s dismissal of Confederate monument charges against . Also this morning, Police Chief Angela Greene — who was told not to pursue the charges but did it anyway — has been fired:
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JUSTICE IN PORTSMOUTH. Our hero Louise Lucas and her fellow proud Portsmouth citizens deserve our admiration. Grateful this despicable political persecution is over. twitter.com/ReginaMobley75…
Janno Lieber, head of the MTA, said Ms. Hochul has transformed the way mass transit is funded in New York, shifting its dependence away from the farebox.
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NEW: Hochul unveiled $227 billion budget with $1 billion for migrant crisis and plan to salvage MTA finances by increasing payroll taxes.
But Hochul putting $$ in reserves ahead of potential recession and budget gaps of $22 billion between 2025-2027.
nytimes.com/2023/02/01/nyr
Beautifully told, nuanced and deeply reported piece on public perception competing with the reality of crime levels in NYC's subway,
by :
My sisters and I were raised poor by a single mom in the RGV of Texas, home to some of the most destitute communities in the US. Our schools were bad & our streets south of the border continue to be horrifically unsafe due to drug violence/political corruption/a media blackout
Grateful for all the super smart people who helped us come up with this roundup of ideas to stabilize/boost NYC transit as the state hashes out its next budget (and, importantly, how much it gives the MTA) 🙏🏽
Please be kind to reporters. The shit they deal with is unbelievably stressful and often dangerous.
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A big part of my job as a reporter is to 1) contact people and ask them if they would be interviewed and 2) if they say yes, write down what they say.
For my most recent story, doing #1 got me nasty messages, rude voicemails, doxing and death threats. publicintegrity.org/health/coronav
Observing the excellent teach our students writing techniques and loved this piece of advice on pacing: Long sentences speed up time, short sentences slow it down
My girl the Wapo foreign correspondent 💯🔥
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First byline from Mexico City, where I’ll be filling in at the Washington Post bureau for the next couple weeks 
twitter.com/matthewhaybrow…
twitter.com/matthewhaybrow…Election Night MVP Award goes to , who must have known I was prob going to skip dinner and ordered me wings instead 🍗
Another big vote on this very busy news day: Virginia House votes to legalize marijuana statewide starting in 2023
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Rider's Alliance organizer Danna Dennis urges the city to spread the reach of the Fair Fares program. She recalls a time when she had to ask people to swipe her into the system, an "embarrassing," "humbling" experience. Background:
