The Briefly for December 19, 2019 – The "Here Come Governor Cuomo's Subway Cops" Edition

Today - Low: 24˚ High: 28˚

Clear throughout the day.

The woman whose instagram posts inside the liana's enclosure at the Bronx Zoo seemed to heave no fear, except of showing up at court. She no-showed her court date last week and a bench warrant has been issued for her arrest. (NY1) Non-binary New Yorkers will no longer be labeled as male or female on their death certificates and can instead have an X. The city has offered an intersex designation for birth certificates since 2016 and a nonbinary X since 2018. (Brooklyn Eagle) The MTA board, controlled but he governor, approved the governor's proposal of hiring 500 new police officers to patrol subways and buses, costing $249 million in the next four years. The three board nominees appointed by Mayor de Blasio voted against the measure. (Vincent Barone for amNewYork) Misdemeanors in the city’s public transit system peaked in 2009, then declined, and have since been holding fairly steady, with some minor fluctuations, since 2012. Experts say Governor Cuomo's claims that misdemeanors are up 11% is based on incomplete data. (Dana Rubenstein for Politico) Photos: Inside Gramercy Typewriter, one of the city's last typewriter stores. (Nicole Saraniero for Untapped New York) The #1 book checked out of the NYPL this year was Becoming by Michelle Obama. Fine out the rest of the top ten and what was popular in each borough. (Jen Carlson for Gothamist) Stonewall House, New York City’s first affordable LGBT-friendly senior housing complex, is now open in Fort Greene. (Alexandra Alex for 6sqft) The city's 29th bicyclist in 2019 killed by a driver is Dr. Daniel J. Cammerman, a doctor at Mount Sinai Health System on the Upper East Side. The Upper East Side is a particularly dangerous place for cyclists. (Todd Maisel for amNewYork) The NYPD have begun testifying in the juvenile court case of the 13-year-old accused of stabbing Tessa Majors to death. (JB Nicholas for Gothamist) NYC’s 15 most iconic modern buildings. (Amy Plitt for Curbed) Chase, Joe Coffee, and By CHLOE, the businesses in the location of the former Union Square Coffee Shop, are now open. (Alexandra Alexa for 6sqft) So now we all know what a snow squall is. (Ben Yakas for Gothamist) Okay, but why did everyone in the city get a notification about the squall? The National Weather Service added squalls to their list of weather threats worthy of notifications in January of 2018. Wednesdays pair of notifications were the second and third ever to be issued in the city. (Ed Shanahan for NY Times) Photos: One upside to freezing temperatures is the look of the plants at the New York Botanical Garden wearing icicles like jewelry. (Jen Chung for Gothamist) The owners of the building where Erica Tishman was killed by falling debris on 49th St were fined for failure to maintain the building's facade in October of 2018 and April of this year, which identified falling hazards for pedestrians. The building got approval to begin masonry work to repair the facade last month. Now that someone was killed as a result of their delays, repairs appear to have begun. (Ben Yakas for Gothamist) The city's small claims court cases have a new upper limit of $10,000, up from $5,000. (Allie Griffin for LIC Post) Stop trying to rebrand the South Bronx as SoBro. (Ed García Conde for Welcome2TheBronx) Two-ways tolls are coming back to the Verrazzano. Rolled up into the $1.4 trillion government spending bill is changing the bridge's one way $19.00 toll to an each-way $9.50 toll. Drivers re-route their trips to avoid tolls, making the East-bound direction of Staten Island more congested than necessary as a result. The bill is headed to the senate, where it's expected to pass. (Paula Katinas for The Brooklyn Home Reporter) The Nevins Street Subway Raccoon was spotted on Tuesday night. What does this little scamp want? Probably the same as the rest of us on the subway, to be left alone. Trash panda-related subway delays have doubled in 2019, up to 11 total. (Claire Lampen for Gothamist) A history of the Central Park carousel. (Patricia Youngquist for I Love the Upper West Side) Mayor de Blasio delayed a report about the investigation into if private yeshivas in New York City were not providing their students with an adequate education as long as possible for his own political gain. A report from the DOE's Special Commissioner of Investigation on the situation states the inquiry itself was delayed at least a year in order to drum up support for mayoral control of city schools. It's been four years since the inquiry was supposed to start and no report has been produced. (Christopher Robbins for Gothamist) Mayor de Blasio didn't break the law, but he did interfere with his own Department of Education's probe into the yeshivas. Now the mayor's office sounds like an echo of the president, immediately issuing the statement "There's no 'there' there, as evidenced by the finding of no wrongdoing." (Eliza Shapiro and Jeffrey C. Mays for NY Times) Jersey City has joined the federal lawsuit against the de Blasio administration for its placement of homeless families from the city in apartments controlled by slumlords in New Jersey. (Mark Hallum for amNewYork) OMNY has arrived in the Bronx, starting with the E138 St, Grand Concourse, and 149th St stations. (Ed García Conde for Welcome2TheBronx) The ten best dishes inside the new Essex Crossing. (Robert Sietsema for Eater)