The Briefly for December 27-28, 2020 – The "Most Wonderful Time of the Year" Sunday Edition
Today - Low: 34˚ High: 37˚
Clear throughout the day.
Interview: Author John Birdsall on how James Beard's queerness influenced American culture. *Sean Carlson and Danny Lewis for Gothamist) 22 celebratory restaurants open on New Year's Eve. (Lorelei Yang for Eater) A better idea, takeout. The best NYE takeout specials. (Hannah Albertine for The Infatuation) It's the most wonderful time of the year, it's Mulchfest! Bring your trees for mulching to one of the city's 33 sites for mulching on Saturdays through January 9. Bring your own bag to bring home your mulch or donate it to the city. (Sophia Chang for Gothamist) Two more rare birds for the bird lovers! A western tanager was seen in Carl Schurz Park and a greater white-fronted goose was spotted on Randall's Island. (Nick Garber for Patch) Someone is digging up and reanimating the bones of The Village Voice, which died in September 2017. Unfortunately that someone is Brian Calle, who most recently ruined the L.A. Weekly after purchasing it. The death of The Village Voice was one of the things that pushed me to start The Briefly. (Bill Pearis for BrooklynVegan) Farewell to Pizza Beach, which closed its doors for good right before the indoor dining ban took effect earlier this month. (Elie Z Perler for Bowery Boogie) The New York Automatic Voter Registration Act became law on December 22. It will automatically register eligible New Yorkers to vote when they interact with different governmental agencies. (Angélica Acevedo for QNS) Meet Los Deliveristas Unidos, a group of independent (most of the city's 80,000 deliveristas are independent) restaurant delivery workers who are fighting for better pay and improved worker protections while the city relies on them more than ever. (Valeria Ricciulli for Grub Street) The governor announced the coronavirus eviction moratorium will stay in place after January 1. Governor Cuomo did not announce how long the moratorium would be extended. (Anna Quinn for Patch) Congrats to @SidetalkNYC for making this list of things Ashley Reese was inexplicably horny for in 2020. (Ashley Reese for Jezebel) What's it like to date right now? Here are the answers from 20 single New Yorkers. (Will Gleason for Time Out) Trump gained voters in NYC? Yup. Trump increased his share of votes in almost all of the city's assembly districts. (Sarah Maslin Nir for NY Times) The city killed off two rezonings on Franklin Ave in Crown Heights. In one case, Judge Reginald Boddie reversed the 2018 rezoning certification for two 16-story developments at 40 Crown Street and 931 Carroll Street and Franklin. Mayor de Blasio spoke up against the proposed 960 Franklin Avenue redevelopment, calling it "grossly out of scale with the neighborhood." This is the development that the Brooklyn Botanical Garden was also fighting against with its "Fight for Sunlight" campaign. (Ben Verde for Brownstoner) Tony Robbins might be New York's biggest asshole. In a new lawsuit, an employee for 18 years alleges Tony Robbins discriminated against her for getting Covid-19. (Azi Paybarah and Michael Levenson for NY Times) RIP Roger Berlind, producer of over 100 plays and musicals and winner of over 25 Tony Awards. (Katharine Q. Seelye for NY Times) A 32-year-old woman died after being struck by a Brooklyn-bound 2 subway train on Saturday morning after she was spotted standing between cars on the moving train. (David Cruz for Gothamist) A photo ode to mom-and-pops. (Brian Braiker with photos by Mich Cardin for Brooklyn Magazine) What to expect for New Year's Eve. Here's a hint: Not a normal NYE. (Nick Garber for Patch) A look at the Republican field for the 2021 mayor's race. (Samar Khurshid for Gotham Gazette) On the Democratic side, the Times asks if progressives will rule the mayoral race. (Katie Glueck and Dana Rubinstein for NY Times) Bike maniac (I mean that in a good way) Dave Colon has invited all the mayoral candidates to go on a bike ride with him. To his credit Carlos Menchaca took him up on the offer. (Dave Colon for Streetsblog) Andrew Yang filed for a mayoral run. I've seen photos of him on a bike, so maybe he'll take Dave up on his offer. (Matt Troutman for Patch) The city launched a new online tool to track Covid-19 vaccinations. (Davin Gannon for 6sqft) The mayor announced that the NYC sheriff's department will enforce the city's two-week quarantine visiting homes or hotel rooms. Does this mean the city hasn't been enforcing its mandated two-week quarantine period? I'm joking, of course, it means exactly that. (Brooklyn Eagle) The city was ill-prepared for the first Covid-19 wave, so the mayor set up a Covid-19 "situation room" to handle the city's schools' response to further outbreaks. Turns out, the mayor's situation room is still ill-prepared to deal with rising cases, failing the schools and children the situation room was set up to support. (Christina Veiga for Chalkbeat) “And now this thing we should be celebrating — the arrival of this much anticipated vaccine — it’s turning into a rivalry. There is competitiveness and skepticism and mistrust.” Like an episode of the Twilight Zone, the camaraderie that fighting against Covid-19 is falling apart when it comes to who gets the vaccine first. (Joseph Goldstein for NY Times) Buskers, sitting in the cold, and the 8 things Ginia Bellafante hated about New York until 2020. (Ginia Bellafante for NY Times) 9 restaurants with heated outdoor dining in the Bronx. (Tanay Warerkar for Eater) A visit to the $100 per person speakeasy Stoned Gourmet Cannabis Pizza somewhere in the East Village. (EV Grieve) Borscht at Verōnika, Pasta A La Presse at The Grill, A Very Good Side Salad at Hunky Dory, and the rest of The Infatuation's favorite dishes of 2020. (Hannah Albertine, Nikko Duren, Hillary Reinsberg, Arden Shore, and Matt Tervooren for The Infatuation) Thanks to Francesca for today's featured photo!