The Briefly for April 23, 2020 – The "No One Cares Why You're Leaving New York" Edition

Today - Low: 47˚ High: 53˚

Light rain overnight.

Despite the Governor's orders, some hospitals are not allowing one support person in labor and delivery settings. (Virginia Breen for The City) 7 things you didn’t know about Central Park. (Devin Gannon for 6sqft) A look at the positive contributions of David Penepent, a mortuary sciences professor at SUNY Canton, who is helping with the transportation, care, and cremation of New York City's dead during this pandemic. Very often you'll hear about how bad of a job someone is doing in a moment of crisis, this is the exact opposite. (Alexandra E. Petri for NY Times) 15% of pregnant women in NYC tested positive for COVID-19 in a limited study in Manhattan over a two week period. The findings may give a better look into what's happening with the general population and highlights a need for universal testing. (Bobby Cuza for NY1) No cares about your "why I'm leaving New York" essay. That goes double during a pandemic. Just leave and take your guilt about leaving with you. (Claire Fallon for HuffPost) A "plaque" was put up in Park Slope near Methodist Hospital by an unknown guerilla street artist honoring "grocery workers, nurses, hospital staff, doctors, mail carriers, immigrant laborers, and other true heroes" of the pandemic. (Michelle Young for Untapped New York) The City Council is looking for ways to resuscitate the city's summer jobs program. (Reema Amin for Chalkbeat) City Council Speaker Corey Johnson pushed a 75-mile open street plan forward on Wednesday. Johnson and Council Member Carlina Rivera dismissed the mayor's concerns about the plan as irrelevant. The mayor has recently blamed the failure of his open streets plan on New Yorkers. (Joe Anuta for Politico) The City Council introduced an "Essential Workers' Bill of Rights" on Wednesday, which would require large employers to provide additional protections and hazard pay to those hourly workers helping the city continue to operate during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Christopher Robbins and Sydney Perreira for Gothamist) Looking to make your Friday night Zoom hangout feel a little more regular? Check out Virtual Cheers, which in return for a donation to the staff of the bar will give you a photo of the bar of your choice. (Beth Landman for Eater) The organizers of the city's Pride parades have decided to collaborate to take their events virtual. Global PRide is June 27, but the city has already canceled all public events in June. (Michael Dorgan for LIC Post) What's the first thing you're gonna eat when quarantine is over? 21 famous New Yorkers on the first thing they're gonna eat. (Alyssa Shelasky for Grub Street) The mayor has continued to talk publicly about what it will take to reopen the city, including a "Trace and Test" program, which will move people who test positive into isolation, possibly in one of the 11,000 hotel rooms the city has set aside. Right now the city is aiming for 400,000 test kits per month, which isn't nearly enough for the city's 8.5 million people. (Kathleen Culliton for Patch) Mayor Bloomberg volunteered to develop a contact tracing program for the tri-state area. Bloomberg Philanthropies has also made a financial contribution of $10.5 million through the Bloomberg School fo Health at John's Hopkins. This is separate from the Mayor de Blasio's plan. (Dana Schulz for 6sqft) Governor Cuomo is looking to double the number of COVID-19 tests in the state, from 20,000 to 40,000. The 40,000 is "ambitious," in his own words, with the state's 300 labs working 24/7 to meet the demand for 20,000. At 40,000 a day, it'll only take 13 and a half years to test the whole state. (Jeff Arnold for Patch) Foot Locker, H&M, Old Navy, Nordstrom, Party City, and The Gap, welcome to the non-rent paying party. (Erin Hudson for The Real Deal) The underground, hydroponic farm on Worth St, Farm.One, is still operating, but its produce was originally intended for bars and restaurants. Now they are opening up orders to the public. (Tribeca Citizen) "This is a celebration that has to happen." -Mayor de Blasio on the Fourth of July fireworks. Fourth of July is six days after NYC Pride was scheduled to end. (Kathleen Culliton for Patch) Bodega-inspired streetwear. (Emma Orlow for Time Out) The MTA's 250 construction projects are moving forward, albeit with some new safety precautions, being deemed essential. With so few people riding the trains, this may be the optimal time to get that work done.(Stephen Nessen for Gothamist) Everyone's made a mistake when ordering groceries, especially now, but what do you do with ten bunches of bananas or 1,200 coffee filters? (Madison Malone Kircher for Grub Street) Where to get Mexican takeout and delivery in NYC. (Hannah Albertine for The Infatuation) 50 things the RESY staff misses most about New York. (RESY) An interactive map of where to avoid where sidewalks make social distancing impossible. (Shaye Weaver for Time Out) Now remains a great time to adopt a dog or a cat. The Briefly home has two amazing toy poodles, Scooter and Pepper, and we couldn't be happier. (Jeff Arnold for Patch) It's like "ballet or break dancing on a bike." Meet BMX champ Matthias Dandois, who is doing tricks inside his Tribeca apartment. (Alex Mitchell for Bronx Times) Here is the recipe for Junior's famous cheesecake from scratch. Now I know what I'm doing to try (and fail) this weekend. (Bao Ong for Time Out) Two NY housecats have tested positive for COVID-19, as well as four tigers and three lions in the Bronx Zoo. (Jen Chung for Gothamist) Meet Jennifer Marino-Bonventre, an English teacher who is bringing some joy to the city with some fantastic sidewalk chalk drawings. (Debora Fougere for NY1) The Times found out what the rest of us already knew: New Yorkers want cheap wine and a lot of cheap wine. (Alix Strauss for NY Times) New York City, a city of winners, and Boston, which is a different city, have different sports teams, different coffee choices, different clam chowders, and two genetically different types of pigeons. (Joshua Sokol for NY Times) 22 standout sushi spots still open for takeout and delivery. (Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner for Eater) Thanks to reader Melissa for today's featured photo from the East Village.