The Briefly for December 23, 2019 – The "Sitting Around the Apartment, Staring at Your Family" Edition
Today - Low: 35˚ High: 50˚
Clear throughout the day.
Gramercy Park will open to the public on Christmas Eve for one hour between 6 and 7pm. (Devin Gannon for 6sqft) A $1,550 coffee can, a $150 meal for a child, a home decorated for only $50,000. These are the holiday deals for New York's obscenely rich. (Kathleen Culliton for Patch) A $5000 cocktail at The Baccarat. (Matt Coneybeare for Viewing NYC) Okay, you've got family in town this week? Here are some suggestions on what to do with them instead of staring at each other inside your apartment. (Meredith Craig de Pietro for Brooklyn Based) Christmas day activities for anyone not into Christmas. (Sara Lewin Lebwohl for I Love the Upper West Side) More Christmas day activities. (Rebecca Fishbein for 6sqft) Photos: Brooklyn's largest Hanukkah menorah's night one celebration. (Todd Maisel for amNewYork) It's the record-holder of the Guinness World Records for largest gingerbread village, with 800 pounds of candy, 600 pounds of gingerbread dough, and 2,300 pounds of royal icing. (Stephanie Simon for NY1) AAA declared Thursday between 4:15pm and 6:15pm the absolute worst time to drive in the city with traffic 2.7x the usual amount. (Adam Nichols for Patch) The population in Downtown Brooklyn is expected to double in the 2020s. The future of the neighborhood, as envisioned by Downtown Brooklyn Partnership could include protected bike lanes, a mix of some of the most pedestrian-friendly features the city has to offer between 14th St's busway and Times Square's pedestrian plazas. (Benjamin Schneider for The City) Advocates want more New York City school staff to be better educated in how to guide undocumented high school seniors through Dream Act application process. (Alejandra O'Connell-Domenech for amNewYork) A federal judge on Thursday rejected a motion from ICE officials to dismiss a New York lawsuit challenging the federal agency over courthouse arrests. The judge ruled that ICE agents should not be allowed to make arrests while witnesses or parties are coming in and out of court proceedings. (Stephen Rex Brown and Leonard Greene for NY Daily News) We've got a new entry into the 100+ point violation club in the weekly list of restaurants ordered closed by the Department of Health. (Adam Nichols for Patch) Parents are accusing the two out of 28 yeshivas that were reported as providing the minimum secular educations of making superficial changes when administrators knew about the inspections in advance, possibly making the already embarrassing report even worse. How bad can it get? Five of the 28 schools inspected offered zero math or English classes at all. (Jessica Gould and Jake Offenhartz for Gothamist) One of the Mob Wives was arrested? Quelle surprise! (Corey Kilgannon for NY Times) Want some good news? Here's a story about a firefighter that saved and adopted a kitten. (Jen Chung for Gothamist) Apartment Porn: Take a tour of a $30 million Park Ave penthouse with a rooftop pool, 14-foot ceilings, and a bathtub with a view. (Architectural Digest) 2019 was not a memorable year for sports in New York. (Robert Pozarycki for amNewYork) Please meet Elizabeth Warrhen, a lost rooster found in Park Slope trying to root atop an inflatable Santa. (Ben Yakas for Gothamist) D’ussé Palooza went from a basement party in Harlem thrown by two unemployed friends to 9,000 revelers at the Barclays Center, sponsored by Jay-Z and a half-million dollar budget in seven years with a plan to expand globally. (Aaron Randle for NY Times) "Why not use drones to do building inspections?" is a perfectly good question to ask. Installing a sidewalk shed and scaffolding is an expensive, time consuming and may contribute to why some building owners don't get it done. So what's stopping it from happening? There's a 1948 law that requires that all aircraft take off and land in a location designated for flight by the Port Authority. (Mark Hallum for amNewYork) 2019 has been "a difficult and challenging year under Vision Zero," according to the city's transportation commissioner, and the end of the year isn't letting up. In three days drivers killed six pedestrians in Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan, bringing the death toll on city streets to 119 this year, topping last year's 110. (Christina Goldbaum for NY Times) Are you ready for the Brooklyn version of High Fidelity? (Ben Yakas for Gothamist) A vigil for the five people killed by drivers on 3rd Ave in Brooklyn was held, calling for the mayor to not wait another year or for another vigil to take action to make 3rd Ave safer for everyone. (Julianne Cuba for Streetsblog) A detective involved in the Tessa Majors stabbing investigation, Wilfredo Acevedo, has been sued multiple times for allegations that include withholding exculpatory evidence and making false accusations. He's already facing scrutiny for interrogating a thirteen-year-old suspect with no attorney present. He also has three disciplinary findings from the NYPD. (George Joseph for Gothamist) The Josephine Shaw Lowell Fountain in Bryant Park is never turned off, which makes a beautiful ice sculpture every time the temperature goes below freezing. (Matt Coneybeare for Viewing NYC) A Bronx soccer stadium may be closer than we think, despite neighborhood opposition. (Ed García Conde for Welcome2TheBronx) What do you do when the leader of a gang is already in prison? Howard Smith is accused of being the leader of the Brick Squad gang, giving orders through coded phone calls from prison. (Nicole Hong for NY Times) Despite the city-wide reduction in chain stores, Dunkin' and MetroPCS saw a booming 2019. Dunkin' is the city's largest chain with 636 stores, followed by MetroPCS with 468. (Devin Gannon for 6sqft) If you love sushi omakases and hate having money, there are at least 10 sushi omakases that are over $300 before tax or drinks. (Ryan Sutton for Eater) Where to go when you've eaten "everywhere" in Soho. (The Infatuation)