The Briefly for August 4, 2020 – The "Batten Down the Hatches!" Edition
Today - Low: 73˚ High: 81˚
Rain in the morning and afternoon.
President Trump and his company are being investigated for possible bank and insurance fraud by Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance. (William K. Rashbaum and Benjamin Weiser for NY Times) Photos: The Brooklyn Botanical Garden is once again open to visitors. (Susan De Vries for Brownstoner) The city is getting ready for a storm surge of 1-2 feet during Tuesday's expected downpour from Tropical Storm Isaias. (Christopher Robbins for Gothamist) Photos: Eataly's new summer rooftop restaurant, opening on August 7. (Bao Ong for Time Out) According to an NYC Hospitality Alliance survey, only 17.2% of restaurants and bars say they're able to pay 50% or more of their rent. (Robert Pozarycki for amNewYork Metro) One-third of the city's small businesses may close forever, according to a report from the Partnership for New York City with job losses already at 520,000. (Matthew Haag for NY Times) New York state is extending its unemployment insurance past the 26-week limit through the end of the year. (East New York News) All about rent increases. When can it happen, how much can it be, and how to check if your apartment is stabilized. (AJ Jordan for Localize Labs) The NYPD's 26th Precinct has a Twitter problem. The precinct is in the heart of Harlem and their Twitter account has a history of hitting the like button on tweets about conspiracy theories, QAnon, and Trump. After being caught, the account removed the likes. (Reuven Blau for The City) Evergreen headline for the moment: "The NYPD is investigating shootings." (Rocco Vertuccio for NY1) The mayor has his own ideas, as does Commissioner Shea, but the data shows the reason for the city's spike in shootings is a plummeting number of gun crime arrests. (Alan Feuer for NY Times) NYPD officer Richard Catapano was found dead in his Astoria apartment from an apparent suicide. (Michael Dorgan for Queens Post) Enjoying Open Restaurants? They'll be back next year, starting on June 1. (Matt Troutman for Patch) In addition to Open Restaurants returning next year, the city is making curbside dining permanent from June 1 to October 31. (Gersh Kuntzman for Streetsblog) Photos: See the 193 new Rockefeller Center flags designed by the public. (Devin Gannon for 6sqft) Photos: 22 new libraries opened this week to offer grab-and-go service. (Nicole Saraniero for Untapped New York) Maintenance workers and security guards at Columbia University will not be going on strike after TWO Local 241 reached an agreement with the university. (Michael Herzenberg for NY1) The most expensive area to live in the city during the first half of the year was the 10014 zip code, covering the West Village and Greenwich Village will set you back a median price of $4.2 million. Tribeca's 10013 was in second place at $3.1 million. (Emily Davenport for amNewYork Metro) Video: A walk through Prospect Park from dog beach to Parkside Avenue. (ActionKid) A Walgreen grows in Brooklyn. (Greenpointers) A basket intended to prevent debris from falling off of elevated subway tracks onto pedestrians... fell onto a pedestrian on Sunday. An NYC Transit Interim SVP calling it "a very unfortunate incident." The person hit was taken to the hospital and was reported to be in stable condition. (Jen Chung for Gothamist) If the city's schools open, what is the city's plan to get all 150,000 students who rely on buses to school? “The DOE is recommending that families, wherever possible, help reduce the number of students in need of busing by either transporting their children to school on their own, walking, or biking,” aka "you're on your own." Got it. (Julianne Cuba for Streetsblog) Video: Drone footage of all eight Black Lives Matter murals in NYC. (Ben Yakas for Gothamist, video from @mingomatic) Despite the city's plans to reopen the schools for the fall, Governor Cuomo has yet to make a decision to allow any school in the state to reopen. He's expected to announce a decision this week. (Matt Troutman for Patch) Shootings jumped 177% in July compared to last year, according to the NYPD. Assaults and reported rapes declined year-over-year. (Emily Davenport for amNewYork Metro) The Black Lives Matter mural walls in Gowanus were defaced with the tired response of "All Lives Matter." This is the wall that was accidentally painted over once, so I have confidence that this will be fixed. (Ben Verde for Brooklyn Paper) Photos and Video: The red-tailed hawks of Governors Island. (D. Bruce Yolton for Urban Hawks) Tips on how to stay safer on mass transit. (Katherine Cusumano for NY Times) Photos: What the hell is going on with the splashes of blood outside this meat market in Astoria? (Give Me Astoria) Can you think of a good reason that Williamsburg has more trash cans than Bed Stuy? No, seriously, it's not a setup to a joke. "Bed Stuy Strong, Safe and Sanitary" wants your input. (Ben Verde for Brooklyn Paper) Meet Diana Florence, a candidate for Manhattan District Attorney and a former leader of the Construction Fraud Task Force within the DA's office. She stepped down in January amid allegations that she withheld evidence. (Josefa Velasquez for The City) Facebook signed its 730,000 square foot lease in the Farley Post Office building. When will it move in? That's a whole other story. (Rich Bockmann for The Real Deal) A judge weighed in on some disputed ballots in NY-12's Democratic congressional primary allowing some invalidated votes to be counted, but not enough to sway the primary away from incumbent Carolyn Maloney towards challenger Suraj Patel. (Jesse McKinley for NY Times) 15 summery brunch options for takeout and delivery. (Eater)