The Briefly for January 14, 2020 – The "AOC vs Cuomo, Round 2" Edition
Today - Low: 40˚ High: 48˚
Possible light rain in the afternoon.
How do you move hundreds of millions of dollars in view of the public in NYC without getting robbed? Very carefully. Here's the story of how Tiffany's moved everything in its store overnight. (James Barron for NY Times) Attorney General Letitia James announced on Monday that her office would investigate the NYPD and if its fare evasion policing in the subways has illegally targeted New Yorkers of color. (Kathleen Culliton for Patch) The winners and losers of the Queens bus network redesign. (Dave Colon for Streetsblog) Cuomo's AirTrain is about to hit a new obstacle: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. (Patrick McGeehan for NY Times) There are thirteen million registered voters in New York state, with one million designated as "inactive," and whose names were not on the voter rolls at election sites, which is a violation of the 14th Amendment and the National Voting Rights Act of 1993 according to a federal judge. While it may seem trivial, remember that the Queens DA race was decided by 55 votes. Moving forward, all registered voters' names will be available at polling sites. (Brigid Bergin for Gothamist) Information on how to register to vote. The leader of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, Frank Seddio, is stepping down amid concerns about the party's and his own finances. Seddio is facing $2.2 million in lawsuits and the party's cash reserves have dwindled from $505,000 in 2013 to $32,800 in 2019. (Aidan Graham and Kevin Duggan for amNewYorkMetro) Photos: When it comes to the city's skies, birds usually get all the attention. Don't forget the city's bats. (D. Bruce Yolton for Urban Hawks) RIP Matthew Maher, owner of McSorley's since the 60s. The bar is staying in the family, daughter Teresa Maher de a Haba is the owner now. (EV Grieve) Here are the top ten checked out books in the NYPL's history. You'll notice a theme running through the list. "Goodnight Moon" did not make the list do to a personal vendetta against the book by children's librarian Anne Carroll Moore. (Holly Louise Perry for Bowery Boogie) Have you seen “The Geographic Center of NYC” in Woodside on the corner of 58th Street and Queens Boulevard? Besides being a cool piece of trivia it's also completely wrong. If this isn't the place, where is it? (Michelle Young for Untapped New York) If your usual subway station is outdoors, the winters can be brutal. A century ago, the IRT provided potbelly stoves in stations for its riders to stay warm while waiting for the train. (Ephemeral New York) Signal problems ruined about four out of every five morning commutes in 2019, according to a new Riders Alliance analysis. (Kathleen Culliton for Patch) The L train showdown is running ahead of schedule and should be completed by April, but not without some weekend closures. The MTA announced the weekends of January 17, February 14, and March 20 with closures from 8th Av to Broadway Junction. (Alexandra Alexa for 6sqft) In addition to the L construction, the MTA announced emergency overnight construction was necessary on the G train this week through Friday night from midnight to 1:30am. (Greenpointers) On a dry day, the MTA pumps 13 million gallons of water from its system. Monday's water main break added half a million gallons to that, causing chaos on the 4, 5, 6, A, B, and C lines. (Jake Offenhartz for Gothamist) It's time to declare the days of the cooking competition celebrity chef over. (Robert Sietsema for Eater) It started as an argument between two dads about their kids near Dyker Park, but it turned into a double stabbing. One was stabbed in the chest and neck and the other was stabbed in the leg. (Todd Maisel for amNewYork Metro) In terms of housing and transportation costs, NYC ranks tenth in the nation, right after Houston but right before Minneapolis-St Paul. (Emily Davenport for amNewYork Metro) Photos: Baby Yoda has a mural in the East Village. (Ben Yakas for Gothamist) The plan to rezone Bushwick hit a possibly fatal roadblock Monday after city officials and local politicians failed to reach an agreement on affordable housing requirements. (Devin Gannon for 6sqft) The de Blasio administration testified at a 2019 City Council meeting that they did not have information about who was riding the heavily subsidized NYC Ferry system. The mayor used his insistence that the boats were being used by low-income New Yorkers as justification to dramatically expand the ferry system. It was all a lie, because the city's Economic Development Corporation had already conducted two rider surveys that showed the median income of riders was over $100,000. For each rider on the ferry that pays $2.75, the city pays $9.34. (Caroline Spivack for Curbed) Vans opened Skate Space 198, a free indoor skatepark right off the Jefferson stop in Bushwick. (Collier Sutter for Time Out) NYCHA residents filed about 59,770 bug infestation complaints in the first nine months of 2019, according to the Legal Aid Society. (Kathleen Culliton for Patch) What's the best pizza in NYC? In honor of National Pizza Week, Patch asked politicians, comedians, and Broadway stars where to get their favorite slice. It's mostly unconventional picks for the city's best, even if Chuck Schumer's pick is one of the closest pizza places to his apartment. (Kathleen Culliton for Patch) Mama's Too, on the list, is rolling out a meatball parm that is already being described as "the city's best meatball parm." (Scott Lynch for Gothamist)