Entertainment
The Creators Behind New York City’s Digital Revival
Bing bong! If you’ve ever been to New York City, you know the iconic sound of the subway. Or you’ve heard the onomatopoeia echoed by one of New York’s many content creators. America’s largest city is swarming with talent chasing the attention economy. This is how some of New York City’s newest and brightest social media stars are shaping that moment.
If your TikTok algorithm is even slightly New York-centric, you’ve seen the chaotic sparkle of Side Talk New York, the “1-minute street interview show” that’s become both a meme machine and a cultural archive. Filmmakers Trent Simonian and Jack Byrne have turned shouting matches outside MSG into high-speed anthropology. A man declaring “Bing Bong” after a Knicks win? That’s folklore now (the phrase was popularized by frequent guest host Nems). But the genius of Side Talk is in the small moments of joy and absurdity across boroughs that it captures. The pulse of the city translated directly into pixels.
If you’re lucky, you might catch an interview done with microphones attached to Metro Cards on your Subway journey. Subway Takes, created by Kareem Rahma and Andrew Kuo in 2023, has interviewees defending their hot takes live on the train while the host, Rahma, agrees or disagrees. The platform is one of many that have revitalized interest in the city, which suffered greatly from the woes of the Covid-19 pandemic, causing a huge increase in hospitalizations and deaths, as well as shuttered businesses, brought tourism to halt and brought an interest into uplifting local communities and highlighting the rich and unique culture and atmosphere of New York.
Especially in tourism and food content, there is a renewed interest in New York, from places of interest to tourists, to old-school local businesses that have survived generations. Rob Martinez, the name behind Eating With Robert, has amassed a huge following on TikTok, YouTube, Substack and Instagram for his videos and writing about amazing food finds. Martinez, originally from Long Island, began his journey by highlighting his favorite local eateries in New York, and has expanded his food content globally, traveling elsewhere in the United States and abroad to highlight local food cultures and deserving small businesses. –
Another way New Yorkers have garnered attention is through their recipes, not the glossy, studio-lit kind, but those that feel born in apartment kitchens, somewhere between nostalgia and innovation. Future Canoe, a YouTuber who reviews and cooks food in humors videos, with New York as his backdrop. The videos often pair experimental recipes (trying to attempt AI click bait recipes, trying “struggle meals”and reviewing viral NYC dishes). In the same spirit, Farideh Sadeghin, the former Munchies host now helming her own YouTube channel, captures that quintessential “cook with me” energy. Her collaborations—whether grilling ribs on a Brooklyn rooftop or testing a Lower East Side deli’s secret sandwich—turn everyday cooking into cultural conversation. It’s not just about the food; it’s about how food folds into city identity, class, and accessibility.
Another lively example of coverage of neighborhood favorites and the revival of New York is Brooklyn Bites, mainly known via their Instagram account @brooklynbitess. Run by first-generation Italian-Americans Sabrina and Giuseppe, their page reads like an ever-expanding family table: clips from Sunday sauce, neighborhood pizza spots, and trips back to Italy all sit side by side. They spotlight local restaurants and bakeries as lovingly as they document the kind of comfort food made by nonnas, showing Brooklyn and the Italian diaspora that raised them to the world. The tone is casual and deeply affectionate, the hosts pull you into a shared cultural memory, one bite at a time.
Altogether, what connects the content of Subway Takes, Eating With Robert, Future Canoe, Brooklyn Bites, and Side Talk is a collective insistence on presence. These creators reject sanitized portrayals of New York in favor of the messy, immediate, lived-in version. The platforms differ in focus, but they share a rhythm: hyperlocal storytelling charged with digital intimacy. In post-pandemic New York, the city’s return is being championed by creators.
