The "A Coward's Announcement" Edition
No mask mandate, a work of fart, the best places for lunch, $27.85 for a beer, Governor Cuomo urges vaccine mandates for private businesses, and more
Today - Low: 68˚ High: 78˚
Overcast throughout the day.
• Mayor de Blasio did not issue a mask mandate on Monday. Wearing a mask is "strongly recommended" in indoor settings. The federal recommendation is that all people, regardless of vaccination status, should be wearing masks in indoor settings. This is the move of a coward. (Emma G. Fitzsimmons and Daniel E. Slotnik for NY Times)
• Governor Cuomo urged private businesses to mandate vaccination for employees and customers but he doesn't have the power to mandate this statewide. Only local mayors do and Mayor de Blasio already showed his colors. (Chris Crowley for Grub Street)
• Mayor de Blasio endorsed Eric Adams for mayor. Yawn. (Gwynne Hogan for Gothamist)
• If you saw photos from Lollapalooza this weekend, the thought of "what idiot allowed a concert with 100,000 people in attendance to happen with the Delta variant ripping through the country. Guess what? The Homecoming Concert is coming to Central Park in less than three weeks. Yes, you need to show proof of vaccination but it doesn't mean that you can't also be carrying and spreading the virus to the unvaccinated and children in your life while vaccinated. (Caroline Spivack for Curbed)
• Cuomo announced a vaccine or weekly testing mandate for the MTA. Only 44% of subway and bus workers are vaccinated, so I'd expect more worker shortages moving forward. (Jose Martinez for The City)
• A running list of NYC restaurants and bars requiring proof of vaccination. (Erika Adams for Eater)
• Rudy's in Midtown is open again. The bathrooms have been renovated and there's a new air filtration system. I remember many nights starting there but have very few memories of how those nights ended. (Justine Re for NY1)
• "A new work of fart on the Bowery" (EV Grieve)
• A look at Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate for mayor, including his lies about being attacked, his love of media attention, and charges of racism against the Guardian Angels, a group he founded in the 70s. (Gwynne Hogan for Gothamist)
I've got a little story about the Guardian Angels. About a decade ago I was part of a group called the Brooklyn Bike Patrol. We would walk people home from subway stations if they felt unsafe doing it by themselves. It all started in response to a series of rapes and attempted rapes that were happening in Brooklyn. We would walk people home between 9 pm and 4 am as requested. The only time we ever saw anyone from the Guardian Angels in Brooklyn was when TV cameras were around. Once the cameras turned off, they all left and we never saw them again. I think about that a lot when thinking that this guy is running for mayor, even if his campaign is a guaranteed loss.
• The Great Jones Distilling Company is Manhattan's first whiskey distillery since prohibition. (Robert Simonson for NY Times)
• 16 new public art installations in August. (Irene Madrigal for Untapped New York)
• Janno Lieber is now the interim MTA CEO and Chair after Sarah Feinberg's run as interim president ended without her nomination to the position moving forward. (Benjamin Kabak for Second Ave. Sagas)
• What's the most you've ever paid for a beer? Sam Adams Summer Ale was $27.85 at LaGuardia and JFK airports last week. The Port Authority ordered the food and beverage concession company at the airports to conduct a full audit after the costs were "incorrectly posted." Right, and that email was "stuck in my outbox" overnight. (Jose Martinez for The City)
• Real Estate Lust: If you want to feel like somewhat of a scientist yourself, the apartment that served as the Green Goblin's lair in the Tobey McGuire Spider-Man movies is for sale for $2 million. 18-foot ceilings, a cast-iron staircase, private roof terrace, and more. (Dana Schulz for 6sqft)
• Governor Cuomo was questioned over his treatment of women for 11 hours in a taped interview by the state attorney general's office. (Luis Ferré-Sadurní, J. David Goodman, and William K. Rashbaum for NY Times)
• If you've been in the Park Slope, Gowanus, or Boerum Hill areas lately, you've probably noticed that there are a lot of storefront vacancies. (Duncan Freeman for Brooklyn Magazine)
• St. Mark’s Comics is back at Industry City. (Jaime DeJesus for The Brooklyn Home Reporter)
• The off-Broadway musical comedy parodies are back with Stringer Sings!, a parody, of course, of Stranger Things. (André Wheeler for Time Out)
• Union Square's bus lane is now adorned with a 7,500 square foot mural entitled "Collective Vision," which highlights the history that public squares have played in the fight for social justice. (Shaye Weaver for Time Out)
Featured Pet: Butter!
Thanks to reader Melissa for sending in this photo of Butter, camouflaged as a 20-pound hand weight. Send your pet photos to thebriefly@gmail.com or reply to this email!