There's some weird crust or calcification on the crust of my rims... any suggestions on how I can safely scrape/clean it off?

 

looks like corrosion.
to prevent it; wash the wheels weekly.

you can try using a concentrated wheel cleaner like, sonax.
however; going back to chemistry class...corrosion is a chemical reaction which changes the physical appearance of metal.

 

You have a boat load of rust I see also. I would clean that with a drill and wire brush on those rotors

 

Thanks for the response. re: corrosion - fwiw, it seems like this crust is layered on TOP of the rim vs eating into the rim itself. Is that same as what you're referring to when you say "corrosion"?

thoughts from anybody else?

 

clearcoat failure

 

right; salt, grime, and any other things on the NYC streets will eat at the alloy metal.
you can try "Sonax" or any other type of "dedicated concentrated" wheel cleaner. but those wheel cleaners say "for stuck on brake dust, dirt and grime"
your wheels do not look like it's dirty. your wheels look like the metal is being eaten away by some form of chemical reaction...

interesting point that thoiboi made...the corrosion only looks to be on the face of the shiny part of the wheel

 

Yes, this is what I was alluding to... this seems to be on the surface rather than the metal being eaten away...

What specifically does "clearcoat failure" mean? Sorry for the dumb question

 

on painted wheels; the manufacture will add a clear coat to protect the painted wheels.

no matter what it's correct name is; the damage is DONE and you cannot reverse it. because it's eating into the clearcoat, or straight into the metal.
(because I dont believe your wheels are painted. I believe that shiny part of the face of the spoke is polished to shine, which would mean that's bare metal.)

if Honda does clear coat the wheels; you will have to remove the clear coat and repaint it/reclear it