The Briefly for January 24, 2020 – The Weekend "Train Daddy Andy Byford Quit His Job" Edition

Today - Low: 37˚ High: 49˚

Partly cloudy throughout the day.

This weekend - Low: 36˚ High: 51˚

A headline that cuts right to the bone: Millennials Love Zillow Because They’ll Never Own a Home. (Angela Lashbrook for OneZero) How many bed bugs does it take to shut down and evacuate a subway station? One. (Jake Offenhartz for Gothamist) The Stonewall Democratic Club of New York City endorsed Elizabeth Warren for president. (Matt Tracy for Gay City News) A list of the "absolute best" hot chocolate in the city, with L.A. Burdick at the top of the list. (Leah Koenig for Grub Street) Say farewell, Train Daddy has left the city. Andy Byford has quit as the president of New York City Transit. (Christina Goldbaum and Emma G. Fitzsimmons for NY Times) In two years on the job, Andy Byford actually seemed to be doing good work. (Caroline Spivack for Curbed) Why Andy, why? The likely reason we're being left behind is the impending MTA restructuring. (Robert Pozarycki for amNewYork Metro) "I don’t think there’s any truth that Byford couldn’t get along with me" -Governor Cuomo, who almost 100% had trouble getting along with Andy Byford. (Mark Hallum for amNewYork Metro) Will the MTA's progress be delayed because of Byford's departure? According to City Councilmember Joe Borelli, "Unfortunately, we lost the good guy and we're stuck with Andrew." (Gloria Pazmino for NY 1) Limited edition 'Star Trek: Picard' MetroCards are available at the 14th St and 7th Ave on the 1/2/3, 28th St and 7th Ave on the 1, 57th St and 6th Ave on the F, 42nd St at Union Square on the 4/5/6/L/N/Q/R/W, and 28th and Broadway on the R/W. The MetroCards will be available for the next three weeks. (Ben Yakas for Gothamist) A preview of the new Hayden Planetarium space show Worlds Beyond Earth, narrated by Lupita Nyong'o. (Jennifer Vanasco for Gothamist) What's going to replace Fat Baby on Rivington? Who knows, because the replacement has already been evicted. If you've got $23,000 a month, it could be yours. (Bowery Boogie) Governor Cuomo will push the state's legislature to pass his electric bike and scooter legalization bill next week, with April 1 being the worst case scenario. (Christopher Robbins for Gothamist) The comments about pushing the legalization came when talking criticizing the de Blasio administration's "arbitrary" enforcement of the ban with "no uniformity." Where he sees no leadership from Mayor de Blasio, he intends to create it himself. (Gresh Kuntzman for Streetsblog) Cashless stores are a thing of the past. The City Council passed a ban on cashless stores on Thursday, citing that a cash-free business is discriminating against consumers who aren't in a position to have a back banking you. (Collier Sutter for Time Out) Anyone Comics in Crown Heights is hosting a 24-hour comic book creation marathon on February 1. According to a new study, the two most livable neighborhoods in the city are Battery Park and Brooklyn Heights. (Emily Davenport for amNewYork Metro) Five sights that show how much lower Manhattan has changed. (Jane Margolies for NY Times) Fairway filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and will sell off five stores to complete a sale to the company that operates ShopRite and Gourmet Garage. The stores it will sell off are the Upper West Side, Upper East Side, Chelsea, Harlem and Kips Bay. (Chris Crowley is Grub Street) Mean Girls: The Musical is becoming a movie. Mean Girls: The Movie: The Musical: The Movie: The Book, coming to theaters soon? (Adam Feldman for Time Out) Governor Cuomo's $2 billion AirTrain to LaGuardia has ulterior motives: more overall parking. (Eve Kessler for Streetsblog) The Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama are coming to the Brooklyn Museum on August 27 and will be there through October 24. (Howard Halle for Time Out) Six of the oldest cars on the Upper West Side. (David Cunningham for I Love the Upper West Side) Seven years ago, Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz announced Brooklyn would gets its own friendship arch as a gift from the Chinese government to be placed to welcome people to Brooklyn's Chinatown. After years of planning and announcements, the project appears to be dead. (Yoav Gonan for The City) Op/Ed: The argument against rezoning Soho/Noho to allow more affordable housing to be built is an argument that recognizes when the city talks about rezoning for affordable housing, they also rezone for super-luxury apartment buildings. (Andrew Berman for GVSHP) This Sunday is Australia Day, here are 11 ways to celebrate. (Alexandra Alexa for 6sqft) Chopt is buying Dos Toros. The new owners are keeping the restaurant chains separate, but they will share a loyalty program. (Tanay Warerkar for Eater) Congrats to ActionKid on his silver YouTube play button, celebrating 100,000 subscribers. He celebrated by taking a sunrise walk with his new plaque into Manhattan. (ActionKid) Luxury condo prices are at their lowest levels since 2013, hitting $3,816,835, and the surplus of unsold luxury apartments is still high. Over 25% of Manhattan's luxury apartments are sitting empty. (Valeri Ricciulli for Curbed) Photos: For the last few days, a Bald Eagle has been seen in Riverside Park. (D. Bruce Yolton for Urban Hawks) How John Mulaney spends his Sundays. (Paige Darrah for NY Times) 21 restaurants ideal for solo diners. (Diana Hubbell for Eater)