The "100,000 Pounds of Cream Cheese per Week" Edition
The "100,000 Pounds of Cream Cheese per Week" Edition
New York state's new mask mandate, SantaCon, East Side Coastal Resiliency project proceeds despite a court order, Brooklyn Bridge Park is (finally) complete, the best neighborhood gift shops, and more
I’m low on pet/animal photos! Send your pet photos to thebriefly@gmail.com to be featured!
Today - Low: 39˚ High: 47˚
Clear throughout the day.
The latest Covid-19 positivity rate is 2.6%.
78.3% of city residents have been vaccinated. (Source: The City’s Coronavirus tracker)
• Photos: SantaCon infected the city on Saturday, watch your step if you live in one of the affected areas. SantaCon falling on a day with record high temperatures is proof that God hates NYC. (Scott Lynch for Gothamist)
• New York state has a new mask mandate. The mandate requires anyone over the age of two to wear a mask covering their face and nose at all times while in an indoor public space. Businesses and venues that choose to impose a vaccine mandate would not be required to also mandate masks. (Jon Campbell for Gothamist)
• An exceedingly cool interactive Tenement Museum experience. (Philip Kennicott, Lo Bénichou, Shikha Subramaniam and Kolin Pope for Washington Post)
• What do you do when you need one thousand pounds of cream cheese per week during a shortage? Here's how bagel shops are navigating the cream cheese shortage. (Emma Orlow for Eater)
• It's unthinkable, but the cream cheese shortage shut down Junior's cheesecake production multiple times over the last week. Junior's goes through about 100,000 pounds of cream cheese per week to make their cheesecakes. (Ben Yakas for Gothamist)
• After a decade of work, the original plan for Brooklyn Bridge Park is complete. The finishing piece was the opening of Emily Warren Roebling Plaza, which connects both sides of the park. (Michelle Cohen for 6sqft)
• The Alewife Brewing is officially open in Sunnyside. (Brew York)
• Katana Kitchen, Dante, and Attaboy were NYC's representatives on Time Out's World's 50 Best Bars at numbers 10, 20, and 34. Hitting the top 100 was Leyenda at 100, Employees Only at 60, and Double Chicken Please at 54. (Amber Sutherland-Namako for Time Out)
• The city has begun work on the East Side Coastal Resiliency project, which will raise the park eight feet over the next five years to reduce the risk of flooding in nearby communities. Protestors say the work violates a temporary restraining order while the city doesn't seem to believe that they are violating the same order. The lead attorney for one of the groups opposing the work is Arthur Schwartz, who represented the people fighting the 14th St Busway's creation. (Sophia Chang for Gothamist)
• Mulchfest season starts earlier and earlier. (EV Grieve)
• In the story of former NYPD officer Kruythoff Forrester menacing three boys with a gun in Brownsville and then having his arrest voided by the head of the NYPD's community affairs unit, the real victim is Kruythoff Forrester, according to Kruythoff Forrester. (Yoac Gonen for The City)
• A few large real estate deals show rents aren't going to going to calm down in the city according to Curbed. (Kim Velsey for Curbed)
• The city's Small Business Services launched the Small Business Resiliency Grant, a $100 million grant program for small businesses. Businesses must have been operating before October 1 and lost revenue between 2019 and 2020. (Matt Troutman for Patch)
• Where to find Palestinian food in the city. (Robert Sietsema for Eater)
• Video: Walking Dyker Heights' Christmas lights. (Action Kid on YouTube)
• Mayor de Blasio is getting a little feisty in his last days in public office, calling the police union's communications "dog-whistling". It's good to see that his public feud with PBA President Patrick Lynch is going until the very end of his term. (Matt Troutman for Patch)
• The 15th NYC jail fatality of the year happened on Rikers Island this week and was caused by a “medical issue.” The city's medical examiner is probing the cause of death. (George Joseph for Gothamist)
• Photos: Six previously unseen photos of Sesame Street in the 70s. (Jen Carlson for Gothamist)
• The $67 million Flushing Meadows Corona Park Aquatic Center will open temporarily while the city figures out how to reconstruct the roof. A vestigial limb from the city's 2012 failed Olympic bid, the roof has been crumbling since before the pandemic. In what is quickly becoming the city's favorite fix, a net was installed to prevent parts of the ceiling from falling into the pool area. If it works for the elevated subways, maybe it can work for an indoor pool. (Gabriel Sandoval for The City)
• 13 generously stuffed Jamaican patties in NYC. (Luke Fortney for Eater)
• The 30+ best neighborhood shops in NYC for finding the perfect gift. (Michelle Cohen for 6sqft)
Featured Animals: The Bronx Zoo Sea Lions
The seal lions at the Bronx Zoo date back to 1899. These sea lions look like they’re having some fantastic naps. Thanks to reader Megan for sending in this photo!
Thank you to the reader who contributed to The Briefly using this Ko-Fi link after the last digest.I am extremely thankful for your contributions.