User talk:Epicgenius/Archive/2020/Dec

DYK for Gainsborough Studios (Manhattan)
&mdash; Amakuru (talk) 00:02, 1 December 2020 (UTC)

Edit to Chinatown, Manhattan that needs expert attention
Can you take a look at this edit? It appears to be an overly detailed addition of material that includes much OR. I know that you're working on other things, but you may be better able to trim out the chaff. Alansohn (talk) 17:13, 2 December 2020 (UTC)
 * , no problem, I have a little time. I'll take a look soon, but at a glance it does look too detailed and unsourced. Epicgenius (talk) 17:27, 2 December 2020 (UTC)

DYK for Manufacturers Trust Company Building
Cwmhiraeth (talk) 00:01, 4 December 2020 (UTC)

Question about one of your edits on Manufacturers Trust Company Building
You did several edits to this article on October 20. One of them, the one dated "Revision as of 23:30, 20 October 2020," resulted in this sentence in the section "Renovation and controversy:"

Three months after the lease was signed, and after the interior landmark designation was finalized, Vornado received permission from the LPC to modify the building's interior.[96] but the layout of the building.

You have an orphaned sentence fragment at the end. Did you intend to say "not only the building's interior, but the layout of the building?" Ormewood (talk) 00:58, 4 December 2020 (UTC)
 * , thanks for bringing this up. I meant to say that the permission was for alterations to the building's interior layout, i.e. Three months after the lease was signed, and after the interior landmark designation was finalized, Vornado received permission from the LPC to modify the building's interior layout. I'll fix this now. Epicgenius (talk) 01:09, 4 December 2020 (UTC)

DYK nomination of Osborne Apartments
Hello! Your submission of Osborne Apartments at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and some issues with it may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) at your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Morgan695 (talk) 04:57, 4 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Please see new note on your DYK nomination. Yoninah (talk) 20:13, 5 December 2020 (UTC)

DYK for University of Calcutta
Cwmhiraeth (talk) 00:02, 6 December 2020 (UTC)

DYK for 224 West 57th Street
Cwmhiraeth (talk) 00:02, 6 December 2020 (UTC)

Growth team updates #16
Welcome to the sixteenth newsletter from the Growth team!

The Growth team's objective is to work on software changes that help retain new contributors in mid-size Wikimedia projects.

Growth features show impact
Newcomer task experiments results

The team recently published our analysis of the impact of newcomer tasks. We are happy to announce that we found that the Growth features, and particularly newcomer tasks, lead to increased editing from newcomers.

In November 2019, the Growth team added the "newcomer tasks" feature to the newcomer homepage. After six months, we collected data from Arabic, Vietnamese, Czech, and Korean Wikipedias. We analyzed the overall impact of the Growth features, including newcomer tasks.

This analysis finds that the Growth features lead to increases in: We also find that the quality of their edits, as measured by revert rate, is comparable to that of a control group.
 * the probability that newcomers make their first article edit (+11.6%)
 * the probability that they are retained as editors
 * the number of edits they make during their first couple of weeks on the wiki (+22%)

Because of these results, we think all Wikipedias should consider implementing these features. Learn more about how to get them.

You can find more details about this experiment on the report page. Please post any feedback or questions on the talk page

General metrics

As of November 2020, across all wikis where the features have been deployed:
 * more than 5,000 newcomers have made more than 40,000 edits using Newcomer tasks.
 * more than 14,000 questions have been sent to volunteer mentors by more than 11,000 users.
 * more than 2,000 questions have been asked on help desks by more than 1,500 users.

Learn more about Growth results here, and please post any feedback or questions on the talk page.

Variants C and D
Variants C and D are two new arrangements of the newcomer homepage. We deployed them in October. After six weeks of these variants being deployed, we can see that they have led to increased interactions with newcomer tasks. Next, we will determine which variant is best and use that for all newcomers.

News for mentors
A separate list for workshops hosts

During workshops organized by education programs through the communities, workshops hosts like to mentor people they train on wiki. Several wikis requested to have a way to claim their mentees without having other newcomers being randomly being assigned to them. To address this need, a separate list can be created on wiki, for mentors that wish to claim mentees, but prefer not to have random mentees being assigned to them. Learn more about this feature.

Claiming multiple mentees at once

Mentors can use to claim a newcomer as their mentee. The feature now allows mentors to claim multiple newcomers at once.

Community news
The help panel allows people to post a message to the local help desk while editing. Previously, the tool always posted messages to the bottom of help desks. Wikis are now able to configure it to display new messages at the top of the help desk page. T261714

'' Growth team's newsletter prepared by the Growth team and posted by bot • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe. '' 14:22, 7 December 2020 (UTC)

DYK for Rodin Studios
&mdash; Amakuru (talk) 00:02, 10 December 2020 (UTC)

New Page Patrol December Newsletter
Hello ,



It has been a productive year for New Page Patrol as we've roughly cut the size of the New Page Patrol queue in half this year. We have been fortunate to have a lot of great work done by who was the reviewer of the most pages and redirects this past year. Thanks and credit go to and  who join Rosguill in repeating in the top 10 from last year. Thanks to, , and who all got the NPR permission this year and joined the top 10. Also new to the top ten is DannyS712 bot III, programmed by which has helped to dramatically reduce the number of redirects that have needed human patrolling by patrolling certain types of redirects (e.g. for differences in accents) and by also patrolling editors who are on on the redirect whitelist.
 * Year in review

has been named reviewer of the year for 2020. John has held the permission for just over 6 months and in that time has helped cut into the queue by reviewing more than 18,000 articles. His talk page shows his efforts to communicate with users, upholding NPP's goal of nurturing new users and quality over quantity.
 * Reviewer of the Year

As a special recognition and thank you has been awarded the first NPP Technical Achievement Award. His work programming the bot has helped us patrol redirects tremendously - more than 60,000 redirects this past year. This has been a large contribution to New Page Patrol and definitely is worthy of recognition.
 * NPP Technical Achievement Award

Six Month Queue Data: Today – 2262 Low – 2232 High – 10271

To opt-out of future mailings, please remove yourself here 18:17, 10 December 2020 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of 49 Chambers
Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article 49 Chambers you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. SurenGrig07 (talk) 20:22, 10 December 2020 (UTC)

Dahesh Museum
Curious about this edit. The museum is no longer in SoHo. Is it normal to add the navboxes for prior locations? It's the first I've seen it. Thanks! StarM 02:52, 13 December 2020 (UTC)
 * , no, it isn't normal, and I thought I specifically excluded prior locations. Thanks for the heads-up. Epicgenius (talk) 03:31, 13 December 2020 (UTC)
 * No worries, I wasn't entirely sure as I'm still catching up and changes and updates while I was on an editing hiatus so wanted to check. Have a good evening!      StarM 04:17, 13 December 2020 (UTC)

December 16: ONLINE WikiWednesday Salon NYC
(You can subscribe/unsubscribe from future notifications for NYC-area events by adding or removing your name from this list.)

--Wikimedia New York City Team 01:55, 15 December 2020 (UTC)

Osborne Apartments
Hello, I have just moved the DYK hook for the article Osborne Apartments into Queue 3. The hook states "that when the Osborne Apartments building (pictured) was slated to be torn down and replaced, its residents saved it by buying out the landlord for twice her down payment?" I'm puzzled, and can't access #73 and #74, the sources used for the hook. The tenants cannot really have bought the block for $500,000, not unless the Linland Corporation was feeling incredibly generous and giving away $2 million in value? The tenants perhaps obtained the rest of the money by way of a mortgage (the mortgage mentioned in the last sentence of the paragraph was 4 years later). Or did the Lindon Corporation continue to own the building and receive rents but did not demolish it because of the $500,000 payment? Cwmhiraeth (talk) 06:42, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * , it may seem confusing at first, but Sarah Korein (Linland's head) bought the building in a deal worth $2.5 million, as per source 72. However, source 73 says "In the early 1960's, for instance, she put a $250,000 deposit down on the Osborne Apartments, 205 West 57th Street." Korein was going to pay the previous owner the full amount by redeveloping the property, but I'm not sure that she ever owned it. Looking at the article again, I see the sentence "Mrs. Korein could even profit from property she never owned." So this hook may need to be rewritten. I also have a newspapers.com clipping that's basically the NYT article republished in another newspaper, and I found a source that also says Linland (and by extension Korein) owned the structure. Epicgenius (talk) 16:07, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Maybe we could make the hook "that when the Osborne Apartments building (pictured) was slated to be torn down and replaced, its residents saved it by jointly raising $500,000?" Cwmhiraeth (talk) 17:21, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I wondered about that too...I was like, "So she took out a mortgage for 2.5M, placed a down payment of $250K, then accepted $500K...what does she do about the mortgage?" —valereee (talk) 17:32, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I think Cwmhiraeth's proposal works. After searching for some time I wasn't able to find clarifying info about Korein's or Linland's involvement, pretty much other than what valereee said. I actually am not sure what happened to Korein's mortgage. Epicgenius (talk) 17:48, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * The financial arrangements are unclear so I changed the hook in Queue 3 to the wording I suggested above. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 06:25, 19 December 2020 (UTC)

DYK for 130 West 57th Street
&mdash; Amakuru (talk) 00:02, 20 December 2020 (UTC)

DYK for 140 West 57th Street
&mdash; Amakuru (talk) 00:02, 20 December 2020 (UTC)

Congratulations
Congratulations! With 6,612 views, your Manufacturers Trust Company Building hook is one of the most viewed hooks for the month of December. Accordingly, it has been included at DYKSTATS December. All the more impressive since it appeared in a 12-hour queue. Keep up the good work! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Cbl62 (talk • contribs) 21:14, 20 December 2020 (UTC)

DYK for Osborne Apartments
Cwmhiraeth (talk) 00:01, 23 December 2020 (UTC)

Congratulations
Congratulations! With 22,518 views, your Osborne Apartments hook is the most viewed hooks for the month of December. Accordingly, it has been included at DYKSTATS December. Keep up the good work! Cbl62 (talk) 09:44, 24 December 2020 (UTC)

IRT
I'm having some trouble researching since most photos of the el are colorwashed or b&w. Do you know what colors made up the IRT elevated platform signs? white on black? white on olive? white on mustard?  Cards   84664   22:53, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * (This is what I currently have)  Cards   84664   22:59, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * , I'm not exactly sure, but I think the original signs were white on olive. Maybe would know more about this than I do. Epicgenius (talk) 23:01, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Some of the old-timers on subchat.com might be able to answer your question about this and LIRR signage.--Kew Gardens 613 (talk) 01:26, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Can one of you make the post on subchat? It won't give me a posting password.  Cards   84664   16:18, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Sure, you need to create it yourself, but I can do it.--Kew Gardens 613 (talk) 16:51, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I've gone ahead and changed the color in my sandbox. To clarify, I never received an email, main or spam inbox, when I used "Obtain a password".  Cards   84664   17:21, 24 December 2020 (UTC)

FAs and FTs
I wonder if you're going to try and bring Central Park to FAC again? I remember seeing it fail because of lack of participation (which was unfortunate, and rather awkward for me as I meant to review it but completely forgot) but there seems to be more active reviewers at the moment and I'm sure you could reach out to specific people/projects for reviews if it's stalling again. Also, I must ask, are you aiming to bundle every building in NYC into a Featured topic? :) Aza24 (talk) 11:38, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * , thanks. I'll probably try to get Central Park to FAC next year (which is actually coming right up, so not far from now). In all likelihood I will probably bring a selected subset of NYC designated landmarks to at least good topic status - the 11 scenic landmarks in the city. However, there are so many buildings and even official city landmarks, so it's going to be hard to even create articles about other landmarks . Epicgenius (talk) 16:26, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Good to hear! And the landmarks topic would be great to see. Well, I've had my eyes on List of sculptures in Central Park for a while now, if you ever want to do an FLC collab on it, let me know. Aza24 (talk) 20:38, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Second that. I meant to review it once SilkTork had finished but got busy. It's a great article and a worthy subject and it would be great to see it get its star. Also, when is Requests for adminship/Epicgenius going to turn blue? ;) HJ Mitchell &#124; Penny for your thoughts? 20:56, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
 * , thanks for the vote of confidence. I'm still going to be pretty busy with my classes for the time being, but hopefully I might make a run for adminship sometime next year. As for Central Park, I hope to renominate that as well, maybe as early as next month when my current FAC on Riegelmann Boardwalk is closed. Epicgenius (talk) 22:37, 24 December 2020 (UTC)

DYK for Plaza Hotel
Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 00:02, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

Season's Greetings from MrLinkinPark333
Happy Holidays text.png Hello Epicgenius: Enjoy the holiday season, and thanks for your work to maintain, improve and expand Wikipedia. Cheers, MrLinkinPark333 (talk) 04:28, 23 December 2020 (UTC)


 * Spread the WikiLove; use {{subst:Season's Greetings1}} to send this message MrLinkinPark333 (talk) 04:28, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Thanks! A merry Christmas and happy new year to you as well. Thanks for all the work you do. Epicgenius (talk) 17:02, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

Season's Greetings
I wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Starzoner (talk) 17:45, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Thanks! I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year as well. Epicgenius (talk) 17:02, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

'Tis the Season
Enjoy the holiday season, and thanks for your work to maintain, improve and expand Wikipedia. It's been a wild year, and I wanted to take a moment to thank you for your contributions and for the role you play in making Wikipedia as good as it can be. I've enjoyed reviewing your content and somewhat getting to know you this year-- I certainly know far more about New York City buildings than I would ever have imagined. It was a pleasure interacting with you this year. I wish you and your loved ones all the best this December and in the years to come. Cheers, Eddie891 Talk Work 19:03, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Thanks! It's my pleasure, and thank you for your additions as well. Here's to a happy holiday season and a better 2021! Epicgenius (talk) 17:02, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

Merry Christmas


MWright96 (talk) is wishing you a Merry Christmas! This greeting (and season) promotes WikiLove and hopefully this note has made your day a little better. Spread the WikiLove by wishing another user a Merry Christmas, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past, a good friend, or just some random person. Happy New Year!

Spread the cheer by adding {{subst:Xmas2}} to their talk page with a friendly message.
 * Thank you! Here's to a merry Christmas and a happier year beginning! Epicgenius (talk) 17:02, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

Merry Christmas & Let's See Out the Year!

 * Thank you! May you have a merry Christmas and a happy new year as well! Epicgenius (talk) 17:02, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

Merry Christmas!

 * Thank you! Wishing you a more auspicious new year as well. Epicgenius (talk) 17:02, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

Merry Christmas!

 * Thank you! Hope you have a Merry Christmas and a happy new year as well. Epicgenius (talk) 17:02, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

Merry Christmas

 * Thank you! Wikipedia couldn't be what it is without your contributions either. Here's to a merry Christmas and a happy new year! Epicgenius (talk) 17:02, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

Merry December


Best Wishes,  Lee Vilenski (talk • contribs) is wishing you a Merry Christmas! This greeting (and season) promotes WikiLove and hopefully this note has made your day a little better. Spread the WikiLove by wishing another user a Merry Christmas, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past, a good friend, or just some random person. Happy New Year!

Spread the cheer by adding {{subst:Xmas2}} to their talk page with a friendly message.

May you forever come fourth in the cup ;). Best Wishes,  Lee Vilenski (talk • contribs) 18:09, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Thanks! Hopefully I won't be fourth for long though Hope you have a merry Christmas and a happy 2021! Epicgenius (talk) 17:02, 25 December 2020 (UTC)


 * ;) Best Wishes,  Lee Vilenski (talk • contribs) 17:11, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

Happy New Year!

 * Spread the WikiLove; use {{subst:Happy New Year elves}} to send this message

I wish you a prosperous 2021! Starzoner (talk) 15:17, 31 December 2020 (UTC)

Happy New Year, Epicgenius!


Happy New Year! Epicgenius, Have a prosperous, productive and enjoyable New Year, and thanks for your contributions to Wikipedia.

 Saha ❯❯❯  Stay safe   </b> 19:47, 31 December 2020 (UTC)

Send New Year cheer by adding {{subst:Happy New Year fireworks}} to user talk pages.