The Briefly for December 12, 2019 – The "New Subway Signals Have Been Foiled by Snow" Edition

Today - Low: 32˚ High: 35˚

Clear throughout the day.

With four Republican state senators not seeking re-election in 2020, the path is open for the state's Democrats to form a supermajority. (Jesse McKinley for NY Times) Is there room in NYC for this Frankenstein's monster of wafer-thin pizza? We accepted Detroit-style, we'd even begrudgingly allow Chicago-style to come in to the city, we we're hot about Rhode Island-style, but this? Has pizza science finally gone too far? (Jen Carlson for Gothamist) There are calls for Mayor de Blasio to cancel SantaCon. While SantaCon being an event sponsored by the mayor's office, there is a petition you can sign. (EV Grieve) Columbia University made a promise 14 years ago to create a new public school in exchange for a 49-year rent-free lease on a piece of land. Imagine the surprise when Columbia presented a plan to build a 400-foot-tall residential tower on that land. Columbia has been slowly expanding its footprint and the neighborhood is justifiably worried. (Elizabeth Kim for Gothamist) People move to NYC every day, so every day it's useful to have a link that answers the question "what's a bodega?" (Lauren Paley for StreetEasy) The 7 train's new signal communication was foiled on Wednesday by... some snow and slush. Yup. The MTA spent $800 million on new signals and there's a "known phenomenon" that's been known about since March. When a transponder malfunctions due to snow or slush, the train essentially becomes "lost" to the MTA's computers and its speed is reduced from 50 mph to 25 mph. Very reassuring. (Stephen Nessen for Gothamist) New York City, get ready to be REMEd. Of course REME is the new Racially and Ethnically Motivated Extremism unit of the NYPD targeting far-right and extremist hate groups like The Proud Boys or Atomwaffen Division. This comes in response to the shootings in New Jersey. (Ali Watkins for NY Times) Turns out, those no-doors, dangle-your-feet-over-NYC-for-maximally-impressive-content- helicopter experiences may be pretty unsafe — by design. (Claire Lampen for Gothamist) Anti-violence programs across Coney Island are getting $850,000 in city funding to address an uptick in gun violence in the community, starting with gaps in social services. (Meaghan McGoldrick for Brooklyn Daily Eagle) A remote starting feature on a Lexus caused the death of 21-year-old Michael Kosanovich last week on 148th St in South Jamaica. Kosanovich was crushed between the Lexus and another car when the Lexus rolled forward after being started. Pedestrians were able to push the car off of him, but the car slipped and pinned him between the cars for a second time. (Jake Offenhartz for Gothamist) Former President Clinton visited Bed-Stuy’s Cornerstone Baptist Church to check out the energy-efficient upgrades the church was able to install thanks to a commitment from the Clinton Global Initiative University. (Raymond Hagans for The Brooklyn Reader) The latest episode of the What's The [DATA] Point? podcast takes a look at the $28.8 billion cumulative four-year budget gap for New York between 2020 and 2023. (Ben Max for Gotham Gazette) From the team behind the excellent pizza and wine restaurant Ops comes Leo, a new pizza place in Williamsburg split between a cafe/slice shop and a restaurant. (Scott Lynch for Gothamist) Harvey Weinstein and more than 30 actresses and former employees accusing him of sexual harassment and rape reached a tentative $25 million settlement that would not require Weinstein to pay a single dime out of his own pocket. The money would come from the $47 million settlement closing down the Weinstein Company. (Kathleen Culliton for Patch) The best and worst architecture of 2019. (Amy Plitt for Curbed) A two-year-old boy was caught between a moving 2 train and the platform at Fulton Street during rush hour on Wednesday. He died at the hospital. (Jen Chung for Gothamist) The Dry aged Red Hook Tavern burger at Red Hook Tavern, the gruyère fritters at Crown Shy, the Sicilian slice and regular slice at F & F Pizzeria, and the rest of Pete Wells's top 10 dishes of 2019. (Pete Wells for NY Times) Long Island City is getting a Trader Joe's. (Eddie Small for The Real Deal) The Department of Transportation has a plan to address the insanity on the roads surrounding Essex Place, but it's gonna take some time. Not months, but years, and by then congestion pricing will be in place. (Christopher Robbins for Gothamist) A combination of miscommunication and faulty construction lead to the slow response to 80 homes' basements being flooded with raw sewage on Thanksgiving weekend. (Max Parrott for amNewYork) What to see right now in the city's art galleries. (Martha Schwindener for NY Times) The construction at the Javits center is on-time, on-budget, and expected to be "substantially complete" by the spring. (Caroline Spivack for Curbed) The cleanup of the Newtown Creek has hit some murky waters. The EPA decided on a plan that reduces the combined sewer overflow pollution by 61% rather than an option that would eliminate it completely. Combined sewer overflow basically boils down to the neighborhoods toilets flushing directly into the creek when the sewer system is overloaded. (Scott Enman for Brooklyn Daily Eagle) Interested in the city's combined sewer overflows? You might enjoy the @combinedsewer Twitter account. It tweets when the city's sewer system can't handle a combination of sewage and rain and the overflow is released into the city's waterways. (@combinedsewer) The de Blasio administration is getting moving on actually punishing NYPD officers with parking placard for being unable to follow the law while behind the wheel of their own cars. Starting next year, NYPD officers and employees will lose their city-issued parking placard if they get too many moving violation tickets. (Gersh Kuntzman for Streetsblog) Whoops! A mixup meant that a dozen city classrooms didn't receive the emergency lead-removal that were supposed to before the school year started. (Christoper Werth for Gothamist) A calculator to help you decide if you should be renting or buying in NYC. (Nancy Wu for StreetEasy) The best sports bars in the city. (The Infatuation)