The Briefly for January 13, 2019 – The "Caught Speeding Without Consequence" Edition

Today - Low: 37˚ High: 48˚

Overcast throughout the day.

A water main broke near Lincoln Center, causing flooding and train delays between 96th and Tims Square on the Upper West Side. (@tomkaminskiwcbs) A timeline of the incidents that caused 300 subway cars to be pulled from the MTA's fleet last week. The cars are sidelined "indefinitely." (Stephen Nessen for Gothamist) The biggest Harry Potter store in the world is opening in the city this summer in the former Restoration Hardware in Flatiron. (Shaye Weaver for Time Out) Warner Brothers asked Manhattan's Community Board 5 if it could install a dragon on the facade of the 19 century building to a frosty reception. (Dennis Lynch for The Real Deal) If you want to apply to join your Community Board in Manhattan, the deadline is coming up. Make sure to have your application postmarked by the 21st. (Holly Louise Perry for Bowery Boogie) The Reckless Driver Accountability Act was introduced in 2018. The bill would boot or impound the cars of anyone who received five or more red light or speed camera violations in a year until an accountability program was completed. Since its introduction, 362 have been killed on the city's roads. What is the holdup in City Council? (Mark Hallum for amNewYork Metro) The city's speed cameras caught cabs speeding 117,042 times in 2019. (Gersh Kuntzman for Streetsblog) An argument to dissolve the city's Economic Development Corporation, represented by its 27 member unelected board appointed by the mayor and has an oversized amount of influence on the city's direction. (Emily Sharp for Queens Eagle) Photos: The 2020 No Pants Subway Ride. (Todd Maisel for amNewYork) Net neutrality, consumer protections, women's equity, and more of 16 notable proposals not included in Governor Cuomo's State of the State speech. (Samir Khurshid for Gotham Gazette) "If we're going to discuss gun safety, what's a nautical themed way to make a nod toward that?" An interview with the artist who helped create the masterpiece that is Governor Cuomo's fever dream poster. (Jake Offenhartz for Gothamist) Central Park's Sheep Meadow earned that nickname, giving a home to about 200 sheep up through the 1930's, as part of Olmstead and Vaux's original vision for the park. (Sam Neubauer for I Love the Upper West Side) Protected bike lanes are coming to Franklin and Quay streets on the Greenpoint-Williamsburg border. (Kevin Duggar for Brooklyn Paper) Here's a fun riddle: How do you pay for a MetroCard if no bills are accepted, no coins are accepted, no credit cards are accepted, no debit cards are accepted, no single tickets are given and only exact change is allowed? (ActionKid) The Broadway-Lafayette station, the closest station to his old home, sported a tribute to David Bowie four years after his death. (Elie Perler for Bowery Boogie) The New York City Bar Association is calling on Congress to investigate whether William Barr is too politically biased to fulfill his legal obligations as the nation’s attorney general. (Mary Papenfuss for HuffPost) A new bill from Queens City Council Member Francisco Moya would declare aliens from another planet and replace "alien" and "illegal immigrant" with "noncitizen." (Kathleen Culliton for Patch) Interactive Map: How frequently subway lines and buses are delayed across the city. (Viewing NYC) What does the mayor have to say about Politico's "Wasted Potential" series, which shows just how piss poor the city has been at recycling after Mayor de Blasio's 2015 pledge to reduce the garbage shipped out of the city? “I’ll have more to say on it in the coming weeks as we figure out the next steps of what we have to do." Basically nothing. (Danielle Muoio for Politico) The federal government has launched an investigation into the Hunter's Point Library for possible violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. (NY1) With 119 points on their health department inspection, Tyme & Patience Bakery & Grill has the early lead on highest violation of the year. (Adam Nichols for Patch) After coming right up to the brink, Neir's Tavern in Woodhaven has a new lease, literally. A handshake deal between landlord and bar owner will extend the bar's lease five years, which means we could be back in the position again in a few years. The landlord caved after a combination of public pressure from the Mayor de Blasio, Assemblyman Mike Miller, and City Council Member Robert Holden all made their support of Neir's public and help from the city to get the building up to code. (Carlotta Mohamed for QNS) When Schneps Media buys a publication, it means journalists get fired. When Schneps Media bought amNewYork, most of the editorial staff was laid off. When Schneps Media bought Metro, they laid off the entire editorial staff without severance and at this point no former editorial staffers from either publication works for amNewYork Metro, the new Schneps Media Frankenstein. (Jake Offenhartz for Gothamist) After buying Metro and laying off their editorial staff without any severance, Victoria Schneps went on vacation in the Poconos for facials and massages. (Victoria Schneps for QNS) Marie's Crisis is a New York institution where singing along to the musical theater song being played by the pianists is always encouraged. The name came from a work of Thomas Payne, who died at that address in 1809, American Crisis and the original owner Marie DeMont. (Atlas Obscura) A harlequin duck, native to the Pacific northwest was spotted in Sheepshead Bay, an exciting find for New York's bird crowd. An unusually warm winter has extended the birdwatching season past its usual November ending. (Jessica Parks for Brooklyn Paper) Is the city monitoring and mapping the locations of homeless New Yorkers? that's the worry behind The Coalition for the Homeless pulling its support for Mayor de Blasio's homelessness command center after seeing a photo published of the NYPD's massive surveillance operation. (Kathleen Culliton for Patch) I am in love with single story buildings in Manhattan. Manhattan has a tendency to feel like it's literally overbearing and coming across a single story building is like a quick breath of air. It's why Adam Friedberg's Single-Story Project exhibit at the Center for Architecture is so appealing to me. The exhibit is on display through February 29th. (Elizabeth Kim for Gothamist) South Richmond Hill, Queens is mourning Maria Fuertes, the neighborhood's beloved 92-year-old cat lady who was attacked close to her home and was found dead on the sidewalk. A suspect has been arrested and charged with murder and sex abuse. (Andrea Salcedo for NY Times) A look back at Kawkab America, America's first Arabic newspaper, which launched in 1892 in New York. (Mateo Nelson for Bedford + Bowery) I've fallen in love with ActionKid's video walks around the city. While this may seem trivial now, having video like this is a great document to have of the city in a specific point in time. At the pace the city is changing, even in a few months this same walk could be drastically different. From Long Island City to Bushwick on foot, narrated. (ActionKid) Book Culture's majority owner Chris Doeblin is blaming the city marshal seizure of the store on corporate greed, but pretty much everyone else including his business partners and landlord blame his mismanagement. (Gwynne Hogan for Gothamist) Anassa, Cantina 33, and Shang Kitchen join Eater's list of the hottest restaurants in Queens. (Eater) Thanks to reader Zlata for today’s featured photo!