The Briefly for February 28-29, 2021 – The "#1 Amenity New Yorkers Are Looking For" Sunday Edition

Today - Low: 41˚ High: 45˚

Rain starting in the afternoon.

• A second woman has come forward about sexual harassment from Governor Cuomo.(Jesse McKinley for NY Times)

• Dropping charges against Amy Cooper for calling the police against Christian Cooper was referred to as "restorative justice" by the Manhattan district attorney's office, but restorative justice advocates arguing dropping the charges under the term is a misleading co-optation of the term. (Arun Venugopal for Gothamist)

• Votes are being counted in the elections for City Council, making this the first election where the city's new ranked-choice voting is being utilized. Going into the vote count, Selevena Brooks-Powers started with 38% of the vote and Pesach Osina had 35%. In third was Manny Silva with 10%. (Cindy Rodriguez for Gothamist)

• The #1 amenity that New Yorkers are looking for in their next apartment. Before clicking on the link, take 2-3 guesses what it might be. (Shaye Weaver for Time Out)

• Say hello Digidog, the terrifying/cute robot from Boston Dynamics that we've been watching videos of for years. Now the NYPD has one and advocates are worried it could become a surveillance tool. (Maria Cramer and Christine Hauser for NY Times)

• Apropos of nothing, here's how to remove the battery from one of these Digidogs. (@lenkusov)

• Eviction cases can now move forward against tenants that did not file hardship forms during the moratorium. For the 8,901 hardship declarations, the pause ends on May 1. (Beth Fertig for Gothamist)

• Eleven people were injured in a five-car pileup on the Prospect Expressway on Friday afternoon. (Lloyd Mitchell for Brooklyn Paper)

• Andrew Yang stepped in during an assault on the Staten Island Ferry, helping a photographer being attacked by a man with a metal pole, talking the man with the pole down. (Clifford Michel for The City)

• Balthazar will be opening for the first time in a year on March 24 with indoor and outdoor dining. The bakery will also open on the same day. (Tanay Warerkar for Eater)

• Governor Cuomo seemed to lift the limits on nursing home visitations last week, but the fine print puts unforeseen limitations in place, including a 14-day pause on any visitations after any new Covid-19 cases. Of the 610 nursing homes in the state, only 1/3 are eligible for visitation. (Gwynne Hogan for Gothamist)

• Podcast: Michelle Caruso-Cabrera on running for City Comptroller. (Ben Max for Gotham Gazette)

• Who's running for public advocate? (Afia Eama for Gothamist)

• Everything you need to know about the city's new Asian hate crime task force. (Hannah Albertine for The Infatuation)

• New York City Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza is resigning from the job. Mayor de Blasio says that reports of the resignation being related to their clashes over school desegregation are "totally inaccurate." (Sophia Chang and Jessica Gould for Gothamist)

• Meisha Porter is the next NYC Schools Chancellor. She's got ten months before a new mayoral administration but inherits a struggle over desegregation, opening school buildings, remote learning, just to start. (Sophia Chang and David Cruz for Gothamist)

• 6 great birra tacos. (Hannah Albertine & Nikko Duren for The Infatuation)

• Shaun Donovan is promoting the idea of "Equity Bonds," would establish government savings accounts for all New York City children through annual contributions to those in low-income families. (Elizabeth Kim for Gothamist)

• The Music Workers Alliance is calling for Governor Cuomo to create a "new WPA." The Works Progress Administration, was a federal program that helped artists of all stripes survive the Great Depression. (Jim O'Grady for Gothamist)

• The best new doughnuts in NYC. (Nikko Duren for The Infatuation)

Thanks to reader Sean for today's featured photo!