The Briefly for December 5, 2019 – The "Fight of the Year: Duck vs Subway Car" Edition

The latest restaurant openings with potential. (The Infatuation)

Hart Island, the country's largest taxpayer-funded mass-grave site, is now under the control of the Department of Parks instead of the Department of Corrections. New York City has been burying its veterans, its poor, its anonymous, and those infected in the early days of the AIDS crisis for over a century. The Department of Parks is tasked with providing access to the public for visitation of the million bodies buried on the 131 acre island. (Kathleen Culliton for Patch)

Anthony Benedetto's art is on display at the Art Students League. Maybe you know him as Tony Bennett. (Untapped New York)

In the fight of duck vs subway car, ducks win. A duck wandered on its way onto the tracks of the N train in Brooklyn, causing the train line to come to a complete stop while this terrible little scamp was removed. (Claire Lampen for Gothamist)

The 10 neighborhoods to watch in real estate in 2020, with no real surprises. Williamsburg wouldn't have made the cut if the L train had been shutdown, but it's sitting at #1 instead. (Nancy Wu for StreetEasy)

Say hello to seven recipients of the 11th Annual Sloan Awards for Excellence in Teaching Science and Mathematics in New York City Public High Schools. (Kathleen Culliton for Patch)

Photos: The tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center. (Michelle Young for Untapped New York)

11-year-old Charlotte Nebres is making history as the first Black dancer cast in the leading role of Marie in the New York City Ballet’s production of “George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker.” (Kimberley Richards for HuffPost)

The best latkes in the city. (Leah Koenig for Grub Street)

After months of negotiation and multiple threats of a transit strike, the MTA and Transport Workers Union Local 100 have reached an agreement. The details won't be publicly available until after the contract is ratified by TWU 100 members. (Vincent Barone for amNewYork)

Take a look inside Christina Hendricks's apartment on W 56th. The 800 square foot apartment is on the market after her divorce to Geoffrey Arend. (Michele Petry for StreetEasy)

The Mets have a new majority owner in billionaire Steve Cohen, who increased his investment by $2.6 billion. Cohen became a minority owner in 2008 after former majority owners the Wilpons were caught up in the Bernie Madoff scandal. Unfortunately for the Mets the Wilpons will stay on as CEO and COO for the next five years. (Mark Hallum for amNewYork)

Watch videos from the final performance at Brooklyn Bazaar. (Bill Pearis for BrooklynVegan)

The best vegetarian restaurants on the Upper West Side. (Hannah Rosenfield for I Love the Upper West Side)

What to see, eat and drink near Brooklyn’s new Wegmans. (Lore Croghan for Brooklyn Daily Eagle)

Despite its designation as a "public place" since 1974, architects and developers showed a plan to build nearly one thousand apartments on a 5.8 acre site on the corner of Smith St and Fifth St in Gowanus. Brad Lander, who has been excessively bullish on rezoning Gowanus and adding over 8,000 apartments to the small neighborhood, pushed the development at a Community Board meeting on Monday. (Alexandra Alexa for 6sqft)

The story of the Taxi King, his rise to power and crash back to earth. (Brian M. Rosenthal for NY Times)

One thing that won't be returning to Lincoln Center after its half-billion dollar renovation is Richard Lippold's 190-foot-long, 39-foot-high sculpture Orpheus and Apollo. (Elizabeth Kim for Gothamist)

The top destination in the city for Uber trips by tourists in the city is as obvious as it gets: The Empire State Building. It was actually the #1 destination on the planet. The most popular place in the entire state was the Queens Center Mall in Elmhurst. (Michelle Cohen for 6sqft)

Applications for middle and high school are due Friday, December 6. Here’s what you need to know. (Amy Zimmer and Christina Veiga for ChalkBeat)

The tragedy of the red horse hopper, told in three photos. (EV Grieve)

Why the census has always been controversial in New York City. (Diana Buds for Curbed)

The trailer for the fourth season of High Maintenance was released this week, with the show returning in early February. (Ben Yakas for Gothamist)

Everyone could use a story with a happy ending. When Ashley Patrick left her purse with her wallet, headphones and a pair of gloves for her son on the Q train, she assumed they'd never find their way home. Let's call this one a holiday miracle. (Claire Lampen for Gothamist)

NYC’s 11 most festive bars and restaurants. (Rebecca Fishbein for 6sqft)