The Briefly for July 31, 2020 – The "NYC Loves Until It Destroys" Edition

Today - Low: 72˚ High: 78˚

Rain in the morning.

This weekend - Low: 75˚ High: 85˚

Is it legal to sublet your apartment? Yes, but it's complicated. (Localize.City) Photos: If you're looking for a unique experience when it comes to outdoor dining, check out the USS Baylander at the West Harlem Piers near 125th St, which has a dockside bar and restaurant. (Nicholas Loud for Untapped New York) Real Estate Porn: A $3.4 million Clinton Hill house with a haunted past. (Dana Shulz for 6sqft) Just in time for school conversations to spin up again, here's this headline from the Times: Children May Carry Coronavirus at High Levels, Study Finds. (Apoorva Mandavilli for NY Times) Every student in the city is going to be issued a $420 food stamp card, regardless of their income. This creates a weird dilemma for high-income families. The money on the cards is real and if it isn't used it's wasted, and giving the card to someone else to use is fraud. Fortunately, there is a solution. (Matt Katz for Gothamist) The city released plans for handling Covid-19 outbreaks in schools. (Sophia Chang for Gothamist) Is it possible for New Yorkers to "discover" a secluded and wonderful spot without destroying it? That's the question across the entire city. (Anne Barnard for NY Times) Without a federal stimulus, do NYC schools have enough money to open safely? (Jessica Gould for Gothamist) Suraj Patel isn't ready to concede the 12th Congressional district primary to incumbent Carolyn Mahoney, despite Mahony's 3,700 vote lead, citing 12,000 ballots invalidated by the Board of Elections. (Mark Hallum for amNewYork Metro) He survived physical abuse, homelessness, and gang violence before coming to America as a refugee, where a homeless shelter trashed his wheelchairs while Saheed Adebayo Aare was put in a Manhattan isolation hotel. (Ben Fractenberg for The City) Looking for somewhere new and weird to explore? Check out Dead Horse Inlet and Dead Horse Bay. (Kevin Wash for Forgotten New York) The New York Liberty has a new CEO, just like the Brooklyn Nets do. Joe Tsai owns both teams and has been taking steps to put them both on equal footing with the installation of Keia Clark as CEO of the Liberty with the eventual goal of bringing the Liberty to the Barclays Center once possible. (Noah Singer for Brooklyn Eagle) Interview: Amanda Cohen, the chef and owner of Dirt Candy on if the no-tipping movement can survive the pandemic. (Rachel Sugar for Grub Street) The Department of Environmental Protection is looking to delay the Gowanus Canal cleanup from somewhere between 12 to 18 months due to declining revenues during the pandemic. (Kevin Duggan for Brooklyn Paper) Remember when Governor Cuomo promised states that when New York was over the Covid-19 hump, he'd start sending help? Florida is the first recipient of his pledge, with the state sending gowns, gloves, masks, face shields, and hand santizer. (Mark Hallum for amNewYork Metro) The state's legislature is introducing bills to try to prevent a doomsday scenario in the city where a rise in apartment vacancies could put an end to rent regulation. Under the current laws, when more than 5% of NYC apartments are vacant, rent regulation would come to an end. Building apartments and intentionally keeping them empty or working as hard as possible to evict tenants to drive up the vacancy rate sounds like a conspiracy but I'll never put anything past landlords. (Rachel Holliday Smith for The City) Governor Cuomo is against raising taxes on billionaires but seems to be totally cool with raising MTA fares and tolls on bridges, essentially taxing every non-billionaire instead. (Zack Fink for NY1) The arguments for and against the constitutionality of a billionaires' tax. (Bill Mahoney for Politico) June and July bring the summer's heat, but it also brings nesting turtles onto the runways of JFK airport. Inside the annual struggle to protect the turtles in Jamaica Bay. (Lori Chung for NY1) Even if Columbia University attempts to return to in-person classes in the call a strike by maintenance workers could halt their plans completely unless a new contract is agreed to by Friday night. (Michael Herzenberg for NY1) With no help from the Yankees, the 161st St BID is trying to create a welcoming atmosphere around the stadium to help many of the area's struggling businesses. (Alyssa Paolicelli for NY1) McCarren Tennis Center's weatherproof bubble over the public tennis courts will stay up all summer. (Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner for Greenpointers) Only around 14 percent of state prison inmates have been tested for Covid-19 since the crisis began. I'm no epidemiologist, but that seems like a low percentage. In comparison, there has been 2.596 million tests conducted in the city, which would cover about 30% of the population. (Gwynne Hogan for Gothamist) Tropical Storm Isaias may make landfall in NYC on Monday because things aren't hard enough already. (Adam Nichols for Patch) What to expect at today's "Take Your Knee Off Our Necks" in Midtown. (NY1) Mayor Bill de Blasio is making the New York City court system into a scapegoat for the recent surge in gun violence according to Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks. (NY1) Queens got a Black Lives Matter mural in front of the Family Court on Jamaica Avenue. (Todd Maisel for amNewYork Metro) Get ready, because it's ConEd blackout season. Southern Brooklyn was the first to be asked to turn down their electrical usage. (Liena Zagare for Bklyner) Where to get takeout in Greenwich Village and the West Village. Robert Sietsema for Eater) The MTA is installing free mask dispensers inside city buses. (Dana Schulz for 6sqft) Farewell to Augustine in the Financial DIstrict. (Erika Adams for Eater) Farewell to Rosario’s Pizza on the Lower East Side. (Elie Z Perler for Bowery Boogie) A list of the Williamsburg & Greenpoint places closed for good during COVID-19. (Bill Pearis for Greenpointers) Farewell to Le Sia in the East Village. (EV Grieve) Farewell to An Choi on the Lower East Side. (Elie Z Perler for Bowery Boogie) Union Pool's patio and taco truck are back! (Bill Pearis for BrooklynVegan) Mott Street from Worth to Moscoe is closed off to cars and 10 restaurants all have outdoor dining with seating for over 100. (Mark Hallum for amNewYork Metro) Where to eat outside on the Upper East Side. (Hannah Albertine & Nikko Duren for The Infatuation) The best outdoor brunch spots in the city. (Matt Tervooren for The Infatuation) Thanks to reader Lizzy for today's featured photo!