The Briefly for February 5-6, 2021 – The "New York is Dead. Don't Come Back." Friday Edition

Today - Low: 28˚ High: 41˚

Light rain in the morning and afternoon.

This weekend - Low: 21˚ High: 37˚

• Battery-powered sweatshirts, blanket rentals, navigating a meal in the dark, and the highs and lows of eating outside in sub-freezing temperature. (Robert Sietsema for Eater)

• Nothing is as New York as putting up billboards in Los Angeles and Miami saying "New York is Dead. Don't Come Back." Kudos to The Locker Room, a female-owned Brooklyn-based creative house, for the idea. (Shaye Weaver for Time Out)

• Restaurant workers are now eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine. It took less than a day after announcing indoor dining's that Governor Cuomo realized that sending people indoors to interact with a staff that is unvaccinated is the idea of an idiot. (Erika Adams for Eater)

• Eastern Queens is a vaccine desert. (Clodagh McGowan for NY1)

• Yankee Stadium opens as a vaccination spot today with appointments available for Bronx residents. There are appointments available. (Shannan Ferry for NY1)

• The MTA opened a new entrance to the Nostrand A/C station on Thursday. (Ben Verde for Brooklyn Paper)

• It's pretty common advice in the city to avoid looking like a tourist by not looking up as you walk, that likely makes the Walk of Fame at Theater 80 on St. Marks one of the city's most well-seen landmarks. (Nicole Saraniero for Untapped New York)

• 12 new public art installations in February at Times Square, Rockefeller Center, the Port Authority and more. (Michelle Young Untapped New York)

• Real Estate Lust: A $2.65 million Crown Heights townhouse with a massive backyard and beautiful an en-suite bathroom with separate tub and shower. Sometimes a listing is just nice to look at because you've been inside your apartment for nearly a year and it's just nice to think about being somewhere else for a moment. (Dana Schulz for 6sqft)

• No one should be surprised at a headline that reads "Rockaway ‘pizza nazi’ charged with harassing ex-girlfriend." (David Brand for Queens Post)

• The search for the impossibly perfect mozzarella stick with Big Stick Willy’s in the East Village. (Megan Pzetzhold for Grub Street)

• The discriminatory loitering law known as a ban on “walking while trans” has been repealed by the state's legislature. State Senator Brad Hoylman of Manhattan and Assemmblymember Amy Paulin of Westchester were the bill's lead sponsors. (Matt Tracy for Gay City News)

• The Harriet and Thomas Truesdell House at 227 Duffield Street was designated an individual landmark by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, ending a sixteen year-long fight to preserve the structure which is to believed had once been a stop on the Underground Railroad. (Sophia Chang for Gothamist)

• Ranked Choice Voting was unnecessary for the city's first election utilizing it. Congrats to Democrat James Gennaro on winning the Queens City Council District 24 election. (Christine Chung for The City)

• Meet the self-appointed and self-proclaimed Nut-Butter Don of Flatbush. (Emma Orlow for Grub Street)

• Remember the nets installed under the 7 train to prevent debris from falling onto pedestrians and vehicles? Well now they're full of snow and are being described as "vast, pendulous sacks." Apparently the MTA didn't think about what happens when it snows when installing them. (Jake Offenhartz for Gothamist)

• The Hess spite triangle, my favorite spot in NYC, is for sale with the Village Cigars Building on the corner of Seventh Ave South and Christopher Street for $5.5 million. (Sophia Chang and Jake Offenhartz for Gothamist)`

• Pity the inhabitants of 432 Park, one of the wealthiest addresses and once the tallest residential buildings in the world, who complain about leaks, a creaky building, and elevator malfunctions. One prerequisite for living in the building is spending $15,000 a year at its private restaurant, overseen bu a Michelin-star chef. (Stefanos Chen for NY Times)

• Chicago pizza, Philly cheesesteaks, Nashville hot chicken, Detroit pizza, and now St. Louis wings? (Robert Sietsema for Eater)

• Staten Island's Republican Representative Nicole Malliotakis voted against certifying the 2020 election results, held a "Get Well Soon" rally for former President Trump, and one of her campaign operatives and longtime friend posted a video saying "Heil Hitler" on Facebook. Now Malliotakis has a new opponent. The Nicole is Complicit PAC raised $20,000 within four hours of launching its website to ensure that Malliotakis is a one term member of Congress. (Jazmine Hughes for NY Times)

• The filming locations for Netflix's Unorthodox. (Michelle Young for Untapped New York)

• Patch wants to find NYC's worst slush puddle. (Adam Nichols for Patch)

• The Brooklyn Botanic Garden has launched a series of guided audio walks and installations, offering in-depth visits that remain socially distanced. (Ben Verde for Brooklyn Paper)

• Photos: Swoon's sculpture and mobile performance stage The House Our Families Built, now at Brooklyn Bridge Park. (Scott Lynch for Gothamist)

• Two men being held on Rikers Island filed a lawsuit in that the state’s rules allowing immunizations for residents of other congregate settings like nursing homes, shelters and long-term care facilities while excluding incarcerated people is “arbitrary and capricious.” The lawsuit argues that all people in prisons and jails should be given access to vaccines. (Gwynne Hogan for Gothamist)

• City Councilman Carlos Menchaca is seeking to remove Former President Trump's name from city properties citing a Department of Buildings statute that regulates signs effect on "quality of life in a particular neighborhood." (Brian Braiker for Brooklyn Magazine)

• 3 Super Bowl specials to order, even if you don't watch the game. (Hannah Albertine for The Infatuation)

• New York has been declared the best city in the country for pizza addicts. It isn't an addiction, it's a deep and undying appreciation! (Anna ben Yehuda for Time Out)

• Mayor de Blasio appointed a new head of the Department of Transportation and he's a political ally with no experience in transportation. Commissioner Gutman, who now runs the $1.3 billion department, promised the installation of 10,000 bike parking racks. (Gersh Kuntzman for Streetsblog)

• 21 restaurants offering Valentine's Day specials. (Hannah Albertine for The Infatuation)

• The New York Botanical Garden announced new dates for Yayoi Kusama's KUSAMA: Cosmic Nature exhibition, Saturday, April 10 to Sunday, October 31, 2021. (6sqft)

• What you need to know about the District Attorney races in 2021. (Rachel Holliday Smith for The City)

• Andrew Yang tested positive for Covid-19. He's been the candidate for mayor who has held the most in-person events and already had to quarantine once due to a staffer testing positive. (Katie Glueck for NY Times)

• Following up with the mayoral candidates that supported calls to Defund the Police when it was the politically expedient thing to say. Unsurprisingly, as candidates, everyone's tone has changed. (Jeffery C. Mays and Emma G. Fitzsimmons for NY Times)

• Mayoral candidates Shaun Donovan, Kathryn Garcia, Andrew Yang, Carlos Menchaca, Maya Wiley, and Ray McGuire support requiring NYPD officers to live in NYC. More than half of the NYPD's uniformed officers currently live outside the city. (Gwynne Hogan for Gothamist)

• Interview: Isaac Wright Jr. discusses his run for mayor. (Ben Max for Gotham Gazette)

• A running list of new restaurants that opened in February. (Luke Fortney for Eater)

Thanks to reader Amanda Hatfield for today's featured photo!