The Briefly for August 5, 2020 – The "Everyone is Abandoning de Blasio's Ship" Edition
Today - Low: 71˚ High: 85˚
Clear throughout the day.
Yesterday we looked at the most expensive zip codes in the city (East and Greenwich Village, Tribeca), but let's look at the six most affordable neighborhoods in Manhattan. Yes, all of them are north of 14th St. If not for Murray Hill/Kips Bay, they'd all be north of 86th. (Michele Petry for StreetEasy) Mayor de Blasio said the NYPD is withdrawing from the scores of streets and sidewalks around station houses that it seized during recent Black Lives Matter protests — but no one has seen evidence of this year. Once again the mayor is paying deference to the police department instead of leading the city. (Eve Kessler for Streetsblog) The absolute biggest story developing this week is the resignation of Dr. Oxiris Barbot. From Mayor de Blasio's comments, it appears she was pushed out and he would not say if she was asked to leave. Firing your health commissioner in the middle of a pandemic? That screams "stable leadership." In yesterday's edition, I linked to a story about six staff resignations because of the mayor's stance with the NYPD. It was Dr. Barbot's letter notes that she leaves with "deep disappointment" that the health department's expertise wasn't used to the degree it could have been. It was back in March where stories broke of the mayor's staff threatening resignations over his mishandling of Covid-19 in the early days in the city. Now, we're here. (Elizabeth Kim for Gothamist) Photos: Jennifer Lawrence's Upper East Side penthouse sold for a $6 million loss. (Dana Schulz for 6sqft) In the face of a possible 90% of music venues being forced to permanently shut down due to the pandemic, say hello to the New York Independent Venue Association, an affiliate of the National Independent Venue Association, who have been pushing the passage of the Save Our Stages Act and the Restart Act. (Bill Pearis for BrooklynVegan) Not everything is bad all the time, a new Krispy Kreme opened on W 125th St on Tuesday! (Emily Davenport for amNewYork Metro) The second wave of the pandemic in New York may not be medical in nature, but a wave of one million evictions that could be filed in the next four months, 12 times the average. (Peter Rugh for The Indypendent) To fight evictions, when all else has failed, some New Yorkers are turning to the Depression-era tactic to stay in their homes of community protest and public shaming of landlords. (Caroline Spivack for Curbed) Can the cutlet sandwich be rehabilitated? That's the goal of Cutlets Sandwich Co. I didn't know it needed help? Especially after the year the chicken parm had last year. (Rob Patronite for Grub Street) You can now rent your own mini-"lawn" on the rooftop at South Street Seaport for lawn games, live DJ sets, and movies shown on the 32' LED screen. Never underestimate the adaptability of a business that wants to make money. (Dana Schulz for 6sqft) The Christmas Spectacular at Rockefeller Center is canceled for the first time in its 87 years. (Julia Carmel for NY Times) There was a building collapse on Bedford Ave in Williamburg on Tuesday amid all the wind and storms, but there were no reported injuries. (Kevin Duggan for amNewYork Metro) File under "Look at these assholes." There are party promoters still throwing nightclub parties in venues across the city for wealthy idiots. (Ben Yakas for Gothamist) A man sitting in his car in Queens was killed by a falling tree as a result of Tropical Storm Isaias on Tuesday, which hit the city with Hurricane Sandy-level winds. (Jake Offenhartz for Gothamist) The Department of Education released a partial plan for blended learning in city schools. The department says the same standards will apply to blended and remote learning. (Sophia Chang for Gothamist) Students who don’t comply with requirements to wear masks in schools will be sent home and barred from in-person learning according to Chancellor Richard Carranza. (Alex Zimmerman for Chalkbeat) After six weeks, Ritchie Torres and Representative Carolyn B. Maloney have been declared winners in their respective Democratic congressional primaries. (Jesse McKinley, Shane Goldmacher and Matt Stevens for NY Times) New restaurant openings for August. (Nikko Duren for The Infatuation)