REASONS TO LOVE NEW YORK RIGHT NOW

THE MAYOR HAD HIS PHONES SEIZED BY THE FBI, rents were never higher, and library hours and 3-K alike found themselves in peril. Also, it rained for eight consecutive weekends.

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It's been a mediocre-to-poor year for New York. But every December, this magazine puts out a "Reasons to Love New York' issue, and even during this cursed year, we found 37 particularly excellent reasons why we all should. Did you know there is a Victorian mansion in Bed-Stuy owned by an idiosyncratic hotelier from Georgia (the country) who lets people live in it for free and hosts mudwrestling parties in the backyard? A modern-day folk-hero couple are sticking it to landlords everywhere by refusing to move out of their hilariously cheap 5,800-square-foot loft? We have not one but two brassy Frans? Our appetite for gossip only grows thanks to gripping romances (sure, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are swooning on Bank Street, but have you heard of the Air Force officer who fell in love and became a baroness?) and breakups (we're rooting for you, Chirlane!). Here's a heaping pile of tiny miracles that will remind you that even if, yes, that was indeed a rat you just stepped on, there's still no other place anyone in their right mind should want to live.

1 BECAUSE QUEENS GAVE US A RABBLE-ROUSER WHO MAY JUST BE TRUMP'S MATCH...

AS A RULE, judges don't like to be the center of the story. New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron has found that he doesn't have much of a choice. This is thanks mostly to one particularly belligerent defendant, but the Bob Dylan-quoting, former Creedence Clearwater Revival-covering drummer and ex-cabbie's unwillingness to be Donald Trump's punching bag doesn't hurt, either.