The Briefly for December 18, 2019 – The "AOC vs Cuomo Round 2: The NYPD Subway Surge" Edition
Today - Low: 17˚ High: 37˚
Clear throughout the day.
Search for "de Blasio" "homeless" and "new approach." Here are some highlights you'll find: - Jan 2015: "Shifts Strategy on Homeless Help" - Dec 2015: "The most comprehensive street homeless outreach effort." - Apr 2016: "sweeping homelessness reforms" - Feb 2017: A "blood and guts" war on homelessness. - Dec 2017: "playing catch-up on unsheltered homelessness." - Mar 2018: an "innovative solution to the crisis." - Dec 2019: A new approach addressing street homelessness. (Mark Hellum for amNewYork) Cluster sites are temporary apartments for the homeless in privately owned buildings and the mayor announced in 2016 that he would end the practice of using them by 2019. There are still 3,000 units of cluster housing in the city. Many nonprofits that operate cluster sites have hundreds or thousands of open violations, and continue to get business from the city despite it. (Joan Goldberg for Brooklyn Eagle) Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was one of the leading voices in the effort that killed Amazon's HQ2. Can AOC help the fight against Governor Cuomo's NYPD surge in the subways? (Gersh Kuntzman for Streetsblog) When the United States misses its targets to reduce climate emissions, New York won't be on the list of states that caused it to happen. (Aaron Short for Streetsblog) The best Chinese food on the Upper West Side. (Acrienne Cooper for I Love the Upper West Side) The scumbag of the week award goes to FDNY lieutenant Christopher Hughes, who was caught stealing from a charity event at a Catholic school fundraiser on Staten Island. (Jake Offenhartz for Gothamist) Governor Cuomo seeks to redefine conditions under which a person is capable of giving consent, specifically in when someone is drunk. In a steady stream of announcements like a legislative "12 Days of Christmas" the governor has been unveiling one proposal a day leading up to his 2020 State of the State address. (Sarah Midkiff for Refinery29) Revisiting Le Bernardin, "one of the city’s most thrilling and technically astute restaurants." (Ryan Sutton for Eater) Everyone got the AMBER alert on Tuesday (unless you're a monster and turned them off) for Karol Sanchez, who was kidnapped in the Bronx. A few hours later we found out it was a hoax set up by Sanchez as part of a feud with her mother, who she deems to be overprotective. (Edgar Sandoval for NY Times) The video for All I Want for Christmas is You has a New York connection, it was filmed in front of the iconic "Bronx Christmas House." Unfortunately this year the house is dark for the first time in 46 years. (Ed Garcia Conde for Welcome2TheBronx) Harvey Weinstein, NYC's resident goblin, claims his back hurts too much to deal with a lawsuit to recoup a $45 million loan from him. What a tough year this much have been for him. 🙄 (Claire Lampen for Gothamist) The LES, Sunset Park, Gowanus and the rest of the six NYC neighborhoods poised for major change in 2020. (Caroline Spivack for Curbed) The most expensive street not he planet is 57th St, aka Billionaire's Row. It end one of four Manhattan streets in the top ten. (Alexandra Alexa for 6sqft) Mail-order iconic foods, the foie gras debates, bowl restaurants and all the restaurant trends Adam Platt never wants to see again. (Adam Platt for Grub Street) There is a second legal fight against an apartment complex that would cast a literal shadow over the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. A lawsuit is looking to overturn the City council's approval and force the developer to do an Environmental Impact Survey. (Lore Croghan for Brooklyn Eagle) Falling building debris fatally crushed a 60-year-old woman on West 49th Street and Seventh Avenue in Manhattan on Tuesday morning. (Kathleen Culliton for Patch) The MTA gave a "sneak peek" at a complete redesign of Queens' bus system on Monday night with an eye towards less redundancy, easier transfers, and more inter borough options. The full book on the redesign will be released in the spring of 2020. (Angelica Acevedo for amNewYork) New York City has agreed to pay $12.5 million dollars to settle a class action lawsuit by people who were subject to invasive strip searches while visiting loved ones in jail. (Cindy Rodriguez for Gothamist) The 24-hour NYC diner isn't dead. Say hello to the new Soho Diner. (Chris Crowley for Grub Street) Attention NYC Millennials: The suburbs want you! (Jake Offenhartz for Gothamist) Here's how the local centrists in Congress will vote on the impeachment. (Fred Mogul for Gothamist) A defense lawyer suggested detectives had badgered and yelled at a 13-year-old boy before he admitted participating in the fatal mugging of Tessa Majors. (Jan Ransom for NY Times) The NYPD will encrypt their radios in 2020, cutting off press from real time reporting and also essentially killing how the Citizen app, Scanner 911, and Broadcastify get their reports. The move seems to fly in the face of the city's attempts at making the NYPD more transparent and accountable. (Todd Maisel for amNewYork) The hidden fees in no fee apartments. (Kael Goodman for amNewYork) NYPD arrested a truck driver who they say fatally struck bicyclist Matt Travis in East Harlem last month and left the scene. (Eyewitness News) Time Out New York's 20 best dishes of 2019. (Bao Ong for Time Out)