The New York Times
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For the most fragile New Yorkers and those who care for them, turning 23 brings enormous consequences.
John Florio
- Author, Journalist, and Contributor, The New Yorker
- Contributor, The Atlantic
- Contributor, Freelance
New York
As seen in:
The Atlantic,
The New Yorker
Author and journalist; contributor to The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Nation, and ESPN. Faculty @ Stonecoast MFA.
John Florio’s Journalist Portfolio
View as a gridJohn Wright had the talent, but couldn't follow Jackie Robinson to the Dodgers
Andscape
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Carlis Robinson remembers the white shingle house on Mistletoe Street, especially the friends, the laughter and the backyard barbecues serenaded by Louis Armstrong on her father’s record player.
How New York City Vaccinated 6 Million People in Less Than a Month
The New York Times
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When a single case of smallpox arrived in Manhattan in 1947, a severe outbreak was possible. A decisive civil servant made a bold decision.
Bloody police assault on Miles Davis feels like it could have happened yesterday
Andscape
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A famed Black artist is beaten by two police officers in Midtown Manhattan and falsely charged. It sounds like it could be any one of countless news stories fro...
When the KKK Played Against an All-Black Baseball Team
The Nation
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For the white-robed, playing a black team was a gift-wrapped photo op, a chance to show that the Klan was part of the local community-even the black citizens.
J.L. Wilkinson stood out as the only white owner in the first official Negro League
Andscape
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One hundred years ago, on May 9, 1920, St. Louis residents, on foot and in cars, paraded their way along North Broadway. The procession was bathed in sunshine, ...
Rube Foster was the big man behind the first successful Negro baseball league
Andscape
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One hundred years ago, on Feb. 13, 1920, Rube Foster — the outsize owner of the Chicago American Giants — walked into the Paseo YMCA in Kansas City, Missouri.
Red Sox's Raquel Ferreira breaks through baseball's glass ceiling
Andscape
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We're at Fenway Park, sitting with Raquel Ferreira in the team's executive suite adjacent to the press box. The season just ended, so the stands are em...
Toni Harris made history by getting a football scholarship. Now she needs to make tackles.
Andscape
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Perhaps you’ve heard of Antoinette “Toni” Harris. Earlier this year, the 23-year-old became what is believed to be the first woman to accept a scholarship to play football at a four-year college — not as a kicker, as other women have done — but as a position player.
The Jackie Robinson of pool, Cisero Murphy hustled his way to the top
Andscape
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James “Cornbread” Thomas and Joseph “Strokey” Armstrong are sitting in Thomas’ living room and talking about their friend Cisero Murphy, the legendary pool player who made history in 1965 when he became the first and only African-American to win a world billiards tournament.
In a year of assassinations, an angry Bob Gibson pitched his way into the record books
Andscape
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Fifty years ago, on Oct. 2, 1968, Cardinals ace Bob Gibson stood on the mound at Busch Stadium in St. Louis for Game 1 of the World Series. The 6-foot-2 Gibson glared toward the plate, his jaw dripping with sweat, his cap pulled low over his face.
When Joe Louis fought Schmeling, white America enthusiastically rooted for a black man
The Undefeated
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Eighty years ago, on the night of June 22, 1938, Joe Louis walked across the infield grass at Yankee Stadium, a hooded robe draped over his broad shoulders, the weight of his country on his back. This would be the Brown Bomber's fourth title defense, and indisputably the most meaningful.
When King died, Major League Baseball struck out
The Undefeated
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Fifty years ago, on Thursday, April 4, 1968, the sun began to set on Memphis, Tennessee. At the downtown Lorraine Motel, Martin Luther King Jr., dressed for dinner, stepped out of Room 306 and onto the second-floor balcony. Seconds later, he met what his followers feared most: a sniper's bullet.
Meet Adam Rippon, Your New Favorite Figure Skater
Vice
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"Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings." At 1 AM on Sunday, January 7, the bell came in the form of a buzzing smartphone, and the angel was figure skater Adam Rippon.
The Nike Hijab is Either a Milestone or a Setback for Muslim Women
Vice
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On December 1, the Nike Pro Hijab landed in the sports section at Macy's. It can now also be found on Nike's website and at other retail outlets. The release of the Nike hijab-the first sports hijab sold by a global brand-could be viewed as the culmination of an ad-hoc, grassroots movement inspired by Muslim women.
An Unlikely Race Course on the Red Hook Waterfront
The New York Times
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Red Hook may look like a neighborhood out of time — a semi-industrial patch of broken cobblestone streets, vacant lots, derelict piers and the largest public housing complex in Brooklyn. But this weekend, it will claim its cosmopolitan place alongside Monaco, Marrakesh and Paris, when as many as 18,000 spectators are expected to descend on the neighborhood each day for a rare glimpse at professional auto racing in New York City.
Brehanna Daniels Wants to Be the First Black Woman in a NASCAR Pit Crew
Vice
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Last month, at Nashville's Fairgrounds Speedway, the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) held its first race of the 2017 season. Four hours before the event, under a blue sky, fans began streaming into the grandstands as the 34 drivers put their cars through inspections and qualifying drills.
Revisiting Jackie Robinson's Major League Debut, Seventy Years Later
The New Yorker
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On April 15, 1947, Ed Silverman, a reporter for Sports-Week magazine, took the subway from his apartment, on West Twenty-fourth Street in Manhattan, to the Prospect Park stop, in Brooklyn, walked to Empire Boulevard, and crossed the street to Ebbets Field. Silverman, who was born in Jersey City and raised in Queens, was twenty-three years old, and he had been handed a plum assignment from his editor, Marty Berg: cover the Dodgers’ Opening Day.
Orlando Cruz Fights to Become Boxing's First Openly Gay Champion
The New Yorker
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When the boxer Orlando Cruz issued a press release on October 3, 2012, announcing to the world that he is gay, a strange thing happened: nothing. In a sport that still brims with machismo, nobody in Cruz's circle-not his manager, not his trainer, not his sparring partners-treated him any differently, he said recently, over the phone from Florida, where he's training for his next fight.
The Mind-Bending Physics of Trick-Shot Pool
The Atlantic
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The world's best trick shooters have an unparalleled eye for geometry. "I first saw trick shots on ESPN in 2000," he says. "It seemed like a magic trick, only there was nothing hidden-it was all there! It became a puzzle to me, and solving the puzzle was the challenge."
Why the U.S. Women's Chess Champion Refuses to Play in Iran
Vice
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In February 2017, the Women's World Chess Championship will be held in Iran. The U.S. champion will not be there. Nazi Paikidze-Barnes has refused to participate in protest of the Islamic Republic's compulsory dress code, which mandates that all women wear hijabs, or headscarves, in public.
How Will Rising Temperatures Change Baseball?
The Atlantic
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Angrier players and more home runs are on the way if summer heat keeps breaking records.
The Women Succeeding in a Men's Professional Baseball League
The New Yorker
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On Friday night, at Albert Park, in San Rafael, California, the Sonoma Stompers ran onto the pitching mound, hugged one another, laughed, and sprayed champagne. Jose Flores, their six-foot-four closer, had just sailed a fastball by the San Rafael Pacifics slugger Brent Gillespie, leaving the bases loaded and preserving the team's 5-4 victory.
The Dark Side of Going for Gold
The Atlantic
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After the Olympics, both winners and losers are prone to emotional crashes.