The Briefly for July 24, 2020 – The "Fight For Your Right To Party Or Not?" Edition

Today - Low: 75˚ High: 81˚

Rain in the morning and afternoon.

This weekend - Low: 76˚ High: 90˚

Here's a combination of words you wouldn't expect to describe New York City: "humid subtropical climate zone." Welcome to the era of the sultry night in New York City. (Lisa M Collins for NY Times) The details about applying for Covid-19 rent relief. (Caroline Spivack for Curbed) With the program being called "an endless pit of despair," the rollout of the program has been anything but smooth, with technical problems plaguing literally every step of the way. The deadline closes for applications on July 30. (Gwynne Hogan for Gothamist) Videos: Watch purple lightning hit NYC, including the Statue of Liberty. (Jake Offenhartz for Gothamist) Because life isn't hard enough for the owners of bars right now, the State Liquor Authority is demanding that bars must provide a "sit-down experience" with enough food to be shared by a small group and food must be ordered with the first round. Listen, let me drink my beer and leave me alone with this. (Matt Troutman for Patch) Ellen’s Stardust Diner on W 51st may be shutting down due to $618,459.22 in unpaid rent. In a confusing move, the landlords have put up a notice that they will assume possession of the property by August 7, despite the eviction moratorium in place through August 20. (Erika Adams for Eater) A federal judge temporarily blocked the de Blasio administration’s plan to disclose tens of thousands of newly available police disciplinary records. Police unions argued that the public should not see "unsubstantiated" claims, while the rest of us argue that being able to see how many claims are listed as unsubstantiated is a part of seeing how the NYPD holds itself accountable. The NYCLU has some of the records, which they obtained with a FOIL request, but have been ordered not to release them. (Christopher Robbins and George Joseph for Gothamist) The City, Gothamist/WNYC, ProPublica, and The Marshall Project want to hear about your experiences with the NYPD to help hold the NYPD accountable. (Terry Parris Jr for The City) 20 restaurants with takeout windows and seat-yourself tables. (Hannah Albertine for The Infatuation) The story of U Thant Island, the city's smallest island. (Michelle Young for Untapped New York) Councilman Ritchie Torres declared himself the winner in the NY-15 Democratic Congressional primary. The results aren't official, but it doesn't look likely he'll lose. If elected, he'll be one of the first two Black openly LGBTQ members of Congress, along with Mondaire Jones from NY-17. (Jason Cohen for Bronx Times) Jabari Brisport declared victory in Brooklyn’s 25th Senate District Democratic primary over Assemblywoman Tremaine Wright. If elected (and there's a pretty darn good chance of that in the general election), Brisport will become the first openly gay person of color in the State Senate. (Ben Verde for Brooklyn Paper) How Brooklyn Assembly insurgents rode absentee ballots to upset incumbents in this year's even more blue wave. (Claudia Irizarry Aponte for The City) Results for Covid-19 test conducted by the city have been dramatically cut down to two days and the city's "Test + Trace" program found and isolated 2,000 people with coronavirus symptoms. (Matt Troutman for Patch) The driver of a pickup truck drove into an outdoor dining area in Sunset Park, sending three people to the hospital with minor injuries. (Julianne Cuba for Streetsblog) Robert Sietsema’s 10 favorite pandemic takeout dishes. (Robert Sietsema for Eater) In a message to the youths, Governor Cuomo said that while he respects your right to party, "ThIs Is NoT tHe TiMe To FiGhT FoR YoUr RiGhT tO pArTy" (Matt Troutman for Patch)

"The severe hailstorm was well-forecasted. Policing systems have forever been weaponized against minority groups to galvanize white supremacist agendas. To attack systemic racism is to acknowledge history and our own ignorance of it: Black lives have suffered injustice since the inception of our country. The change we bled for yesterday is the change we die for today."

-Michela Wang, a student at Newark Academy, "This Is Not New": Thoughts On Protests From NYC Teens for Gothamist

If you've got $88 million to spare, you can buy Jeffrey Epstein's Upper East Side mansion. If you've got an additional $2 million, you should invest in enough bleach to clean the house. (6sqft) What's a carriage house? An explanation on the short, but wide homes with large interior spaces you may see dotted around the city. (Erika Riley for StreetEasy) Attention America: Costco still does not trust you with sheet cakes. (Rachel Sugar for Grub Street) Congrats to Brett Gardener for becoming the 18th player in history to appear in 1,500 career games with the Yankees. (Joe Pantorno for amNewYork Metro) “The gathering there got smaller and smaller, was less and less about protests. More and more, it became an area where homeless folks are gathering," said the mayor, defending the dismantling of Abolition Park while simultaneously erasing the city's homeless population's participation in protests. (Emily Ngo for NY1) Citing an “alarming lack of direction” in the city’s plans for reopening school buildings, a Sept. 10 start date seems increasingly difficult to achieve, according to a letter sent by the head of the union that represents school administrators this week. (Alex Zimmerman for Chalkbeat) The State Senate passed a bill that would mandate the 24/7 operation of the city's subways unless a state of emergency is in effect, finally giving us an answer if 24/7 would ever come back. Next stop: The Assembly. (Devin Gannon for 6qft) The pandemic has hit the city's arts organizations to the tune of $550 million, according to NYC’s Department of Cultural Affairs, SMU DataArts, and Americans for Arts. (Zijia Song for Bedford + Bowery) More than a dozen New York City Councilmembers are already asking for Albany’s support in canceling state math and reading tests for third-to-eighth graders this upcoming school year. (Reema Amin for Chalkbeat) The federal government will allow New Yorkers back into trusted traveler programs after federal lawyers admitted that Homeland Security officials made false statements in a bid to justify expelling New York residents from programs that let United States travelers speed through borders and airport lines. Another lie from the Trump administration. (Ed Shanahan with Benjamin Weiser for NY Times) MLB is expanding its postseason to 16 teams, giving four third-place teams a spot in the playoffs. (Joe Pantorno for amNewYork Metro) The Tenement Museum laid off 76 part-time workers. (Shannan Ferry for NY1) A look at the Billion Oyster Project's latest effort, shipping containers turned oyster farms using discarded shells from restaurants, to restore 100 million oysters into the New York Harbor a year. (Jeanine Ramirez for NY1) How will baseball games deal with rain delays in a shortened season? If it starts raining, the game's over. The Yankees won a five-inning game last night to kick off their 2020 season. (NY1) City Council Member Brad Lander is calling on the city to close streets to use them for outdoor instruction for the city's schools. (Amy Zimmer for Chalkbeat) The Times used the right word when describing the exodus of tourists from the city: "flushed." Will they come back? (Patrick McGeehan for NY Times) Where to eat outside in Long Island City. (Matt Tervooren for The Infatuation) Thanks to reader Stacy for today's featured photo from the Elizabeth Street Garden.