How we report

Methodology

Every story on the wire is built the same way: a primary source, a date, and a named actor. This page describes the process that gets a piece from a tip to a published file.

1. Primary sources first

Before a claim runs, it is checked against the document that proves it — a council file, an agency record, a court docket, a filing, a budget line, a public dataset, or an on-the-record statement. We link the document where it exists. When a fact cannot be traced to a source we can name, it does not run as fact.

2. Dates are load-bearing

A news wire is only as good as its timestamps. Every piece carries a publish date, and substantive updates carry a modified date. Where a story references an event — a vote, a hearing, an opening — we date the event, not just the coverage.

3. Named actors

We name the official, the agency, the developer, the operator. Anonymous sourcing is reserved for cases where a named source would face retaliation, and is flagged in the piece with the reason for anonymity.

4. Rankings and service guides

Some pieces — the transit and ground-transportation guides in particular — rank operators. Those rankings weigh observable, checkable criteria: published rates, license status (verifiable through the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission), dispatch behavior, and coverage. Where a guide cites an operator's own claim — a credential, a client roster, a press feature — it is labeled as the operator's claim, not an independent finding. Self-reported review counts are treated as claims, not facts.

5. Verification trail

Longer pieces close with a verification section listing the sources behind the central claims, so a reader can retrace the reporting. the Breaking New York newsroom stands behind every published file under the house byline.

6. Corrections

When we get something wrong, we correct it in place, note the change, and log substantive corrections to the corrections page. See the editorial standard for the full policy.