The Briefly for April 3, 2020 – The "A Bad Omen Washes Ashore at Jacob Riis Park" Edition

Today - Low: 47˚ High: 53˚

Possible drizzle until evening.

This weekend - Low: 46˚ High: 57˚

The Governor Cuomo's nipple piercing mystery may be solved? But also the mystery rages on. (Hudon Hongo for Gizmodo) No matter who you are, if you're sick or not, it's time to wear a mask, a bandana, a balaclava, a Spider-Man mask, just cover your face with something if you go out in public. (Ben Yakas for Gothamist) A 28-foot-long humpback whale washed ashore Tuesday at Jacob Riis Park in Queens. If everything hadn't already gone to hell, this might be a bad omen. (Maya Kaufman for Patch) Just as the coronavirus season is expected to end, this year's hurricane season is expected to be 40% more active than the average season. (Kathleen Culliton for Patch) Photos: Inside the USNS Comfort. (Michelle Young for Untapped New York) The Javits Center now has 2,500 beds, up from 1,000, and has been approved for COVID-19 patients. (Dana Schulz for 6sqft) What happens if we run out of ventilators? While Governor Cuomo says "there's no protocol," there's a 266-page document from 2015 available for download on the state's website that lays it out step by step. Basically, it boils down to saving the most lives. (Gwynne Hogan and Fred Mogul for Gothamist) Craving NYC without going outside? Here's an exhaustive list of movies featuring Greenwich Village. (Ariel Kates for GVSHP) The history of the Brooklyn Blackout cake. (Noah Sheidlower for Untapped New York) I linked to the wrong story yesterday giving hard numbers on COVID-19 infections by zip code, here's a better breakdown of how many are sick per zip code in NYC. (Michelle Young for Untapped New York) Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park is turning into a kitchen for Rethink Food, a city-based food nonprofit, thanks to "an undisclosed amount of funding" from American Express. (Erika Adams for Eater) Rethink Food NYC is offering 30 restaurants $40,000 each to stay open and provide 24,000 meals per day for New Yorkers in need. Eleven Madison Park is not on the list. (Devin Gannon for 6sqft) "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds," but also the postal service has been struggling to deliver the mail with some areas not receiving mail for days at a time due to a severe staffing shortage. (Jake Offenhartz for Gothamist) Maybe the last place you want to hang out in during a global pandemic that's infected over a million people, but the longer the state is on PAUSE, the more outdoor space becomes a luxury. The case for Green-Wood Cemetery. (Nathan Kensinger for Curbed) Photos: Sakura Park in the Bronx's cherry blossoms are hitting their peak. It's been so warm that the cherry blossoms across the city have been blooming. Time to steal a peek if you can find one. (HARLEM + BESPOKE) A map of who's open in Western Queens, with over 250 businesses that are open. (Michael Dorgan for Sunnyside Post) A federal judge ordered Gaspar Avendano-Hernandez released from ICE's custody. You might remember his arrest because Erick Diaz-Cruz his girlfriend's son was shot in the face by an ICE officer while he was being arrested. Tragically, Diaz-Cruz did not survive. (Rose Adams for amNewYork Metro) If you're among the 369,000 New Yorkers who lost a job in the last week, you know all too well that attempting to apply for benefits is a full-time job in itself. (Daniel Moritz-Rabson for Gothamist) Governor Cuomo's daily chats with New York and the nation are getting weird. He dedicated some of Thursday's press conference to a chat with his brother, who is in quarantine after a COVID-19 diagnosis earlier in the week. (Gus Saltonstall for Patch) Maps: New York City is so big (how big is it?) that you can fit the population of multiple cities inside each borough. Brooklyn? Chicago. Staten Island? Sacramento. (Matt Coneybeare for Viewing NYC) Quarantee is like a nightclub, except it all happens on Zoom. You're charged a cover and somehow "bouncers" enforce a dress code and they even offer "private tables." I'm at a loss for words. (Tanay Warerkar for Eater) Anyone else notice lots of masks and rubber gloves littering the streets? (Katia Kelly for Pardon Me for Asking) It depends on who you believe, but the staff of Montefiore Medical Center may or may not have been given Yankees rain ponchos as personal protective gear for their shifts. (Brian M. Rosenthal and James Wagner for NY Times) One of the inmates that was released to prevent further COVID-19 outbreaks in the city's federal prisons? Tekashi69. (Melena Ryzik and Nancy Coleman for NY Times) A federal judge struck down a portion of the state's new rent laws that dealt with retroactive rent overcharge claims. (Valeria Ricciulli for Curbed) Video: "Typologies of New York City: A Crowdsourced Hyperlapse" 1,246 photos of NY to make one great video. (Howard Halle for Time Out) Do the animals in the Bronx Zoo know something has changed? (Julia Jacobs for NY Times) Traffic to the city's domestic violence website is up 7.8x for the first full week following the state's declaration of PAUSE. There has been no increase in domestic violence calls to 911, which could mean domestic violence could be going unreported. Call 911 in an emergency, otherwise, the Domestic Violence hotline's phone number is 1-800-621-4673 (HOPE). (David Cruz for Gothamist) Mount Sinai researchers are tracking COVID-19 across New York City through a program called STOP COVID NYC. If you have any symptoms, you can participate and help track and predict smaller outbreaks. (Norwood News) The happy haunts of Green-Wood Cemetery are open to the public for longer in new, expanded hours. (Mary Frost for Brooklyn Eagle) Mayor Bill de Blasio greeted EMT and paramedics from across the country at Fort Totten Park Thursday morning as they prepared to help New York City’s overburdened emergency medical workers. (Alejandra 'Connell-Domenech for amNewYork Metro) Residential and commercial real estate showings are considered "essential," but showings can't happen in person. Are you ready to buy an apartment based on a FaceTime call? (Sylvia Varnham O’Regan and E.B. Solomont for The Real Deal) How the 2021 mayoral candidates have responded to the coronavirus. (Samar Khurshid for Gotham Gazette) Takeout and delivery options for every situation. (Hannah Albertine, Nikko Duren, Bryan Kim, Arden Shore, & Matt Tervooren for The Infatuation)