Updated 8:04 a.m.
Good morning on this gray Thursday.
We’re a city filled with HQties.
That’s the nickname given to those who play HQ, the wildly popular trivia smartphone app that has been called “the best worst thing on the internet.”
Twice daily, at 3 and 9 p.m. on weekdays (and once daily on weekends), as many as 1.6 million HQties across the country open the app for a live, 15-minute trivia run with the host Scott Rogowsky. Contestants who make it through all 12 questions — which become increasingly obscure and move so quickly that it’s nearly impossible to Google the answers — can win cash prizes.
Some might be surprised to learn that the retro-themed trivia game, which resembles a ’90s cartoon mixed with a scene from “Alice in Wonderland,” is actually filmed at a studio in SoHo. Another possible shock: Mr. Rogowsky, 33, who goes by Quiz Daddy on the app and now has a following across the globe, is from New York and was, until recently, a struggling comedian here.
We asked HQ’s writing team to put New York Today readers to the test with some questions about the state we call home.
(We’ll share the results in our New York Today column on Friday. And this should go without saying: Be an honorable New Yorker, and don’t use Google to look up the answers.)
Continue reading the main storyAs Quiz Daddy likes to say, quoting Phish at the start of every game: “Let’s get down to the nitty gritty; let’s get this show on the road.”
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Thank you for taking the quiz! We'll let you know the results in Friday's New York Today column.
Here’s what else is happening:
Weather
Those cloudy morning skies will deliver rain this afternoon.
In the 40s by day, in the 20s by night.
The rain is expected to change over to snow in the wee hours before tapering off early Friday morning, but little accumulation is expected.
In the News
• The Justice Department moved to dismiss the remaining corruption charges against Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey. [New York Times]
• MS-13 gang violence on Long Island was targeted in President Trump’s State of the Union address, in which he said the gang had taken advantage of “loopholes” in immigration law. [New York Times]
• A study of test scores across New York City’s public elementary schools found that the diversity within a school did not erase achievement gaps between white and minority students. [New York Times]
• Widespread flooding in the 21 Club, the venerated Midtown Manhattan restaurant, will keep the business shut down for months. [New York Times]
• Health care workers’ commutes have been hurt the worst by New York City’s deteriorating subway system. [New York Times]
• Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has been consistently pro-labor, is now facing criticism over bargaining tactics with the carpenters’ union. [New York Times]
• Testimony in the federal corruption trial of Joseph Percoco, a trusted adviser to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, showed how two Syracuse developers relied on him for favors. [New York Times]
• Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a plan to spend $82 million for new boilers in public housing projects that have chronic heating outages. [New York Times]
• Pregnant millennials embracing their baby bump have a shop on Bleecker Street in Manhattan to help them incorporate their pregnancy into their fashion style. [New York Times]
• An underground cocktail bar in Manhattan pays tribute to Life magazine and its editors. [New York Times]
• In an increasingly digital world, here are 15 Brooklyn businesses keeping it analog. [The Bridge]
• United Airlines turned away an emotional support peacock at Newark Liberty International Airport. [NBC]
• Airbnb took away up to 13,500 units from the city’s housing market, according to a new report. [metro.us]
• Today’s Metropolitan Diary: “The Voyeurs’ Fate.”
• For a global look at what’s happening, see Your Morning Briefing.
Coming Up Today
• NYC Restaurant Week continues with deals on three-course lunches ($29) and dinners ($42) at hundreds of restaurants across the city, through Feb. 9.
• El Museo del Barrio and the School of Visual Arts host a panel discussion on “elmuseo@SVA,” an exhibition with the work of artists of the Caribbean diaspora, at the school’s Chelsea Galleries. 6 p.m. [Free]
• A screening of “The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till,” and a discussion with the documentary filmmaker Keith Beauchamp, at the Sheen Center in NoHo. 8 p.m. [$17, tickets here]
• Writers from “Late Night With Seth Meyers” perform an improv comedy show at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in Hell’s Kitchen. 9:30 p.m. [$9]
• Looking ahead: On Friday, join Staten Island Chuck as the groundhog emerges from hibernation at the Staten Island Zoo. Gates open 6:30 a.m.; prediction at 7:30. [Free]
• Devils host Flyers, 7 p.m. (MSG+). Rangers host Maple Leafs, 7 p.m. (MSG).
• Alternate-side parking remains in effect until Feb. 12.
• For more events, see The New York Times’s Arts & Entertainment guide.
And Finally …
We’re one week out from the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, but New Yorkers are starting early.
The Empire State Winter Games begin today, giving more than 2,500 aspiring professional athletes the chance to compete at an Olympic venue — Lake Placid in the Adirondacks, home to the 1932 and 1980 Games.
That’s nearly five hours from New York City, but the festivities kicked off on Monday with a 330-mile torch relay that left from Battery Park and has since traveled along the Empire State Trail toward Lake Placid, in time for the opening ceremony this evening.
Athletes will ski and snowboard as well as compete in sports such as skeleton, bobsled and broomball. Spectators can watch for free.
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