The Briefly for January 16, 2020 – The "Most Important Story Today: Our Mayor's Dumb Bagel Order" Edition

Today - Low: 23˚ High: 49˚

Light rain in the morning.

The story of how Anne Carroll Moore successfully banned Goodnight Moon from New York's Public Libraries for 25 years. (Dan Kois for Slate) National Grid is digging a natural gas pipeline that runs through Bushwick and Williamsburg and connects to Maspeth. People are predictably angry. (Kevin Duggan for Brooklyn Paper) New Jersey tried to claim it has the best bagels. Stick to Bon Jovi and Springsteen, jerkwads. (Ben Yakas for Gothamist) I don't go out of my way to call Mayor de Blasio an idiot, even if 100% of respondents from The Briefly said they don't think he's doing a good job, but I can't resist here. Our idiot mayor took to Twitter to declare the best bagel in New York is a toasted wheat bagel with cream cheese. Excuse me? Toasted wheat? What else would you expect from someone who eats pizza with a fork and loves the Red Sox? (Chris Crowley for Grub Street) Here's the best part of the "idiot mayor orders bagel for idiots" story. The very specific bagel he is referring to, toasted wheat with cream cheese from the Bagel Hole in Park Slope is not possible to get at the Bagel Hole. The Bagel Hole does not toast bagels or even own a bagel toaster. The mayor deleted the offending tweet. (Kathleen Culliton for Patch) While were on the subject of politicians with bad bagel orders, let's not forget Cynthia Nixon's abomination of a bagel order. (Whitney Filloon for Eater) The Parks Department needs to remove and move nearly 15,000 tons of lead-contaminated soil from the Red Hook ballfields. Where will it go? Concrete is being recycled in the city and the rest is being hauled off in trucks to a landfill in Falls Township, PA. (Helene Stapinkski for NY Times) Governor Cuomo was in Puerto Rico this week to survey the damage done by the series of earthquakes that have plagued the island. This is a task that would any normal president would be doing, but we do not live in normal times. (Anna Gronewald for Politico) The A/C/E lines have been approved for a signal upgrade, which should start later this year with the signals replaced from Columbus Circle to High St by 2025. (Mary Frost for Brooklyn Eagle) The Onion: Top 10 things to do in New York City. (The Onion) The Parks Department had plans to renovate Fort Greene Park, but the New York Supreme Court has decided that the 30-acre landscape would not be subject to a redesign or the removal of 83 mature trees until a proper environmental impact review is conducted. (Sydney Franklin for The Architect's Newspaper) New Brooklyn bars and restaurants to check out this winter. (Jennifer Indig for Brooklyn Based) Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents continued to arrest people in and around New York courthouses in 2019, flouting a state directive to curtail such operations, according to a new report from the Immigrant Defense Project. (Jake Offenhartz for Gothamist) Photos: Buzz-a-Rama is the city's last slot car raceway. Run by Frank "Buzz" Perri, Buzz-A-Rama is open on the weekends in Kensington from September through June. (Michelle Young for Untapped New York) The IDNYC program is now making cards available in braille and have added new perks for cardholders, including more free one-year memberships to cultural institutions and free admission to the Queens Botanical Garden on Wednesdays. (Emily Davenport for amNewYork Metro) Congrats smokers, New York is the most expensive state for smokers. (Kathleen Culliton for Patch) Video: Watch Christmas trees go from curb to mulch. (Matt Coneybeare for Viewing NYC) The state's Board of Elections are considering buying a new system of voting machines that are less secure than our current systems, expensive, and can't handle a ranked choice voting election, which we will see in the city in 2021. (Brigid Bergin for Gothamist) A guide to drinking and buying natural wine. (Hannah Howard for Grub Street) Here are the eight candidates for Queens borough president that will be on the ballot on March 24: Council Members Jimmy Van Bramer, Costa Constantinides, Donovan Richards; former Council Member Elizabeth Crowley; former Assistant District Attorney Jim Quinn, police reform advocate Anthony Miranda, William Kregler, Danniel Maio, and Dao Yin. (Allie Griffin got Jackson Heights Post) The city effectively deregulated a so-called “play street” located outside of a Park Slope middle school earlier this month, eliminating recreational space for students in favor of placard parking for teachers and faculty. In an even more incompetent move, the city claims the special designation of "play street" was revoked in 2014, but no one removed the sign until a few weeks ago. (Ben Verde for Brooklyn Paper) What should you do if you one across a seal? It may seem like a weird question in New York City, but this week there have already been three seal sightings reported across the city. First and foremost, don't approach it. Are you some kind of marine mammal expert? You're probably not. Call the New York Marine Rescue Center's 24-hour hotline (631-369-9829). (Ben Yakas for Gothamist) Spring cleaning is coming soon. A guide to donating your clothes, furniture, books, and electronics. (Valeria Ricciulli for Curbed) Renderings: See the proposed renovations to Rockefeller Center. (Alexandra Alexa for 6sqft) The Christmas Tree in Rockefeller Center has been replaced by a giant peacock. (Michelle Young for Untapped New York) Renders: The Hudson Yards shared renderings of the next phase of development in an attempt to dispel rumors of plans to build a wall to separate the Western Yards from the rest of us plebes. (Alexandra Alexa for 6sqft) Representatives Jerrold Nadler and Hakeem Jeffries from Brooklyn will serve as the house managers for the impeachment hearings in the Senate, setting up a Queens vs Brooklyn battle on a federal level. (Paula Katinas for The Brooklyn Home Reporter) Video: A walk from Wall Street to Downtown Brooklyn. (ActionKid) A panel appointed by Mayor de Blasio and others intends to propose a public-private partnership to bailout thousands of taxi drivers trapped in exploitative loans that could cost as much as $500 million. (Brian M. Rosenthal for NY Times) A look inside Brownie's Hobby Shop, one of the city's last true hobby shops. (Amanda Fairinacci for NY1) Chief Martine Materasso is the first woman to lead the NYPD's Bureau of Counterterrorism. (Jeanine Ramirez for NY1) Some answers, not satisfying ones but they're still answers, about what the hell is going on with Grand Central's lack of accessibility. (Shumita Basu for Gothamist) 20 stellar jewish delis. (Robert Sietsema for Eater)