The "Bodega Airport Security" Edition
The "Bodega Airport Security" Edition
Mayor Adams is willing to do anything to fight crime except for addressing the underlying causes of it.
How would you like to write an edition of The Briefly? I’m looking for people interested in having their voices and stories heard. I want to find some people interested in taking over for a day. You don’t have to write them in the same way that I do. You can write an essay, a diary, photos, a list of your favorite bartenders, poetry, or any way you’d like to express yourself. Reply to this email if you’re interested. You don’t need a solid idea, just an interest.
• In the last edition, I noted that the NYPD’s Chief of Department encouraged bodega owners to require customers to remove masks upon entry to prevent crime. Now Mayor Adams is on board. The current administration is willing to do anything except address the root causes of the crimes they are trying to prevent. This feels a lot like the push from some bodega owners to not allow people into their stores wearing hoodies after the murder of Trayvon Martin. (Liam Stack for NY Times with contributed reporting from Hurubie Meko, Brittany Kriegstein, and Emma G. Fitzsimmons)
• Our idiot mayor is determined to learn the wrong lessons from everything. He decided that his job is safer after Chicago's Mayor Lightfoot lost reelection because he's kept his public focus on crime. The mayor's approval rating was 37% last month. (Clayton Guse for Gothamist)
• Apartment Porn: A $1.4 million Harlem condo where natural light and blue skies are the greatest features, along with more bathroom storage than I've ever seen. (Michelle Cohen for 6sqft)
• Rent is down for the fifth straight month, but NYC is still the most expensive rental market in the country, with a typical one-bedroom costing $3,550 in February compared to San Francisco's $3,000. It's still not great news, as rents appear to be up at least 14% year over year. (Matt Troutman for Patch)
• Republicans and the NY Post are making a big deal out of the House ethics investigation into AOC over her Met Gala "Tax the Rich" dress. Since the start of the investigation, AOC has paid for all the items she and her partner received, but that payment didn't come until after the investigation started. Right-wing folks will harp on the idea that it was a "gift," which is forbidden. AOC claims "there was a ball that was dropped." (Verónica Del Valle and David Cruz for Gothamist)
• Drink like the kids: Booze on a budget near NYU. (Ishani Paul for Washington Square News)
• If you've been drinking like the kids, it might be Norovirus. Norovirus/Stomach flu has been hitting hard. Norovirus is a weird one. There's no treatment, it’s very contagious, but you can recover completely from it in two to three days. (Matt Troutman for Patch)
• Despite tweaks to the schedules since the Grand Central Madison launch, things aren't exactly going smoothly. Whose life hasn't been made worse by making accommodations for Long Islanders going to Manhattan? (Bahar Ostadan and Clayton Guse for Gothamist)
• Welcome to 2023's first blood emergency. You need to donate blood. (Matt Troutman for Patch)
• Free Baskin-Robbins ice cream on the Upper East Side. (Anna Rahmanan for Time Out)
• Five Brooklyn subway stations are looking for "friends." It's like a PTA for subway stations in that they want volunteers to improve them. (Stephen Nessen for Gothamist)
• The MTA cleared a hurdle in adding four new Metro-North stations in the East Bronx, with Amtrak agreeing to share tracks. The new stations are expected to be ready by 2027. (Stephen Nessen for Gothamist)
• Is a Coney Island casino a good idea? No, it is a bad idea. Cubed looks at the question, making a comparison to Atlantic City. (Christopher Bonanos for Curbed)
• Speaking of "a casino here is a bad idea," Flushing residents demonstrated against the idea of Steve Cohen's casino near Citi Field, calling out specific advertising towards the Chinese American community as exploitation and racism. According to John Choe, the executive director of the Greater Flushing Chamber of Commerce, "Governor Hochul and the owner of the Mets will argue that casinos are good for us, and are good for economic development. We say bullshit." (Max Rivlin-Nadler for Hell Gate)
• Want to buy the Flatiron Building? It's going up for auction later this month. (Aaron Ginsburg for 6sqft)
• A24 bought the West Village's The Cherry Lane Theatre, the oldest running Off Broadway theater in the city. (Clio Chang for Curbed)
• Take a look inside the new theater at the World Trade Center. (Anna Rahmanan for Time Out)
• Where to Go: Bar Mario in Red Hook, the old Fort Defiance. What to Order: “Spaghetti Hangover” or homemade potato gnocchi. (Scott Lynch for Brooklyn Magazine)
• Protestors shut down the Manhattan Bridge on Monday, calling for an unemployment program for “excluded workers” such as immigrants, freelancers, and cash earners. (Matt Troutman for Patch)
• Say hello to NYC's most-neglected war memorial, a granite marker for the men of Hunts Point who gave their lives in World War I. (Ephemeral New York)
• The helicopter deck and other secrets of the MetLife/Pan Am Building. (Untapped New York)
• 15 of the city’s hottest new cocktail bars. (Eater)
Top Clicked Links in the Last Edition:
Fishs Eddy Opens the Doors on Its Secret Vintage Plate Museum
6 openings and experiences in NYC to look forward to this spring
Featured Pet: Elly!
I’ve been lost in Elly’s eyes for the last ten minutes. Thanks to reader Michele for sending in today’s pic. Send your own to thebriefly@gmail.com.
