The Briefly for July 14, 2020 – The "Like Noise Canceling for Your Open Windows" Edition
Today - Low: 71˚ High: 85˚
Clear throughout the day.
10 things you must know about NYC before moving here. It's probably too late for all of you. Do you know these things? #1 is "It's expensive," so you probably know that one. (Localize.City) Shake Shack gave its PPP loan back. Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group fired 2,000 of its 2,300 employees in March and used different LLCs to apply and receive loans between $11.4 million and $27 million. (Matthew Schuerman with research by Jake Dobkin and Megan Zerez for Gothamist) It's not ready for purchase, but researchers in Singapore have developed an early version of noise canceling headphones for your apartment windows. (David Waldstein for NY Times) Goya is at the center of politics in 2020, a statement no one saw coming, from Republican Nicole Malliotakis's Goya canned food drive to AOC publishing an Adobo recipe. This is all because the CEO of Goya said the USA is "truly blessed" to have a leader like President Trump. (Clarissa Sosin for Queens County Politics) The White Horse Tavern, which openly flaunted the state's social distancing guidelines, had its liquor license temporarily suspended. (Devin Gannon for 6sqft) Looking for a break from everyday life? Six unique NYC Airbnbs. (Shaye Weaver for Time Out) Looking to get married in the city? You're gonna have to wait. Appointments to get a license using the city's "Project Cupid" site has a backlog that stretches on for months. (Rachel Holliday Smith for The City) Davell Gardner, a 1-year-old boy, was shot dead at a BBQ in Bed-Stuy at the Raymond Bush playground on Sunday night. Three other people were shot, but are expected to survive. (NY1) If C.K. McWhorter's $1.8 billion bid to buy the Mets goes through, he would become the only black owner in Major League Baseball. (Joe Pantorno for amNewYork Metro) Trigg Brown — the chef and co-owner of one of NYC’s most buzzed-about restaurants, Win Son — is temporarily stepping away from day-to-day operations after employees leveled allegations that he fostered a hostile workplace. (Erika Adams for Eater) The Black Lives Matter mural outside of Trump Tower was already defaced. (Ben Yakas for Gothamist) Sunday on the beach at Coney Island was a great example of a failure to socially distance. In a neighborhood without Open Streets or many parks, the beach is the only viable place to gather outdoors. (Ariama C. Long for Kings County Politics) Say hello to Chi Ossé, an activist running for City Council in the 36th District and the youngest candidate to ever run for City Council. (Ben Verde for Brooklyn Paper) 36 members of the City Council are calling on Joe Borelli, a City Councilmember from Staten Island, to apologize after his obviously racist attack on the celebration. (Jessica Parks for Brooklyn Paper) It seems the city has finally rid itself of a noted homophobe and City Councilmember Rubén Díaz Sr., whose Congressional bid was met with a responding "NOPE." Díaz Sr. won't be seeking office after his term is up in 2021. (Matt Tracy for Gay City News) City Councilmember Helen Rosenthal is dropping out of the race for Comptroller in 2021, blaming her dropping out on the coronavirus pandemic. (Samar Khurshid for Gotham Gazette) Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance hasn't announced if he'll be seeking another term in office, but his list of challengers is growing. Despite making recent headlines with cases against President Trump and Harvey Weinstein, Vance's office has garnered a lot of well-earned criticism for how it's handled abuse cases against the rich and famous. (Jan Ransom for NY Times) The five candidates vying for Vance's job will participate in a forum today, essentially the race's first debate, without Vance. (Andrew Millman for Gotham Gazette) All travelers flying into airports in New York state will now have to fill out a form providing contact and itinerary information or face a $2,000 fine. (Elizabeth Kim for Gothamist) The Strand's new Upper West Side location opens on Wednesday, but rather than hiring more staff, the book store has fired a dozen of their recently rehired staffers. (Ben Yakas for Gothamist) NYPD traffic agent Jeanisidor Jean Baptiste was arrested in Brooklyn after an investigation uncovered years of alleged sexual abuse to a five-year-old girl from 2008 through 2012. The victim is now 17. (Emily Davenport for amNewYork Metro) If the NYPD is called on to keep the peace during rival Black Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter protests, who do you think they'll defend? On Sunday in Bay Ridge, the NYPD made two arrests after Blue Lives Matter protesters attacked the Black Lives Matter protesters. Both men arrested were Black. (Jake Offenhartz and Gwynne Hogan for Gothamist) Sex workers joined together outside of the Stonewall Inn on July 9 to rally against police brutality and send a message that sex work is work. (Matt Tracy for Gay City News) A new bill is calling for a ban of the NYPD's use of drones for recording or collecting data on the general public in open spaces. The bill also restricts the use of drones without a warrant and bans facial recognition, and is sponsored by State Senator Jessica Ramos. (NY1) It was a few days of good news about Covid-19 infections in New York, so it's time to tamp that down a bit. There's a new spike in infections in New Yorkers in their 20s. (Matt Troutman for Patch) It's nice to think that the city really had zero Covid-19 deaths on Saturday, but that's probably not true. The way the city assigns death dates means that we won't actually know for a few days. Over the last week, there have been 12 confirmed Covid-19 deaths, and one probable death each day. (Jen Carlson and Jake Dobkin for Gothamist) Schools can reopen in the fall for regions in phase four and have infection rates below 5%, according to the guidelines set forward by Governor Cuomo. (Matt Troutman for Patch) It's not all good news for schools. If the city’s infection rate surges past 9% later in August or after the school year starts, schools will be forced to close. (Reema Amin for Chalkbeat)
For months following Amazon’s decision to pull out, we felt forgotten and it appeared that our goal of creating a Long Island City waterfront that would empower our community and create a significant number of jobs was lost. Then last year, a new process emerged.
-Carol Wilkins, April Simpson-Taylor, Claudia Coger & Annie Cotton-Morris, NYCHA Tenant Leaders: Where Amazon Never Arrived, New Opportunity Arises for Gotham Gazette
6 Manhattan homes with their own private pools and hot tubs. Must be nice. (Michele Petry for StreetEasy) It was only a matter of time. A driver crashed his car into an outdoor dining area on Roosevelt Ave in Queens. Four diners and a server were injured. (Justine Re for NY1) 16 places to pick up food news Prospect Park has a few good gems, even if a few of them are laughably far away and other picks ignore where the park's entrances are. (Nikko Duren & Matt Tervooren for The Infatuation) Thanks to reader Micah Eames for today's featured photo!