The Briefly for March 29, 2019 – The "The Final Year of Plastic Bags in New York" Edition

It's the tail end of the month and no one can escape the weekend subway closures and diversions. (6sqft)

“We’re allowed our opinions… There is no such thing as Palestine… He tweeted the truth and we came here to stand up for him.” Welcome to the protest in support of Kalman Yeger’s “Palestine doesn’t exist” comment. Kalman Yeger is on the city's immigration committee, and that is jeopardy now. (Bklyner)

Say farewell to single-use plastic bags at retail stores. (NY Times)

Barneys is going to give up more than half of its space on Madison Ave to cut back on its $30 million annual rent. This follows Lord & Taylor jettisoning their Fifth Ave store and the complete closure of Henri Bendel. (The Real Deal)

The state's budget is due by midnight on Sunday, can the Governor and the legislature get their priorities in order to pass it? (Gotham Gazette)

Inside Whole Foods' new convenience store in Chelsea. (Gothamist)

Want to live a long life? Move to Queens. Queens is in the top 20 counties in the country for life expectancy. (QNS)

Brooklyn's most endangered buildings. (Curbed)

The Upper West Side's best pancakes. KofiMania is running wild. (I Love The Upper West Side)

Kudos to the Coney Island Polar Bear Club for raising $60,000 during their New Year's Day swim. The money will do towards half a dozen charities in and around Coney Island. (The Brooklyn Home Reporter)

Some people argue at work and some Amtrak employees shoot their co-worker in the leg. (Gothamist)

Can the Knicks be freed from the tyranny of James Dolan? Can we ever be free from the awfulness of his band? (Gothamist)

New York is expanding its lawsuit the Sackler family, the billionaires behind OxyContin. (NY Times)

City Council Speaker Corey Johnson added his voice to those calling for the abolition of the Specialized High Schools Admission Test, in addition to expanding the number of city-designated elite high schools. (Chalkbeat)

The mayor's claim of "fewer vehicles" is hard to believe when he makes a promise to reduce the city's fleet by 1,000 when he added over 5,000 since being elected. (NY Post)

The proposed rezoning of Gowanus will add 8,200 new apartments to the neighborhood by 2035, including 3,000 that will be below market rate. The city published a draft scope of work, a step towards a land use review. (Curbed)

How the city influenced its baseball teams. (Streeteasy)

A ride on an NYC Ferry will cost you $2.75, but it could be costing the city an additional $24.75. (amNY)

Grub Street just couldn't help themselves. They went around and tried to order the "St. Louis Style" bagel at a number of bagel places. (Grub Street)

Why is Mayor de Blasio afraid of saying "bike lanes" when it comes to Queens Blvd? (Streetsblog)

Something else the mayor can't seem to do is pick a new head of NYCHA by the April 6 deadline. (NY Post)

Tracy Morgan has not forgotten his Brooklyn roots and paid for a makeover to the Bed-Stuy Marcy Houses where he grew up and partnered with GrowNYC, Feeding America, and City Harvest to improve the Harrie Carthan Community Garden. (amNY)

Parents can now remove a doctor's name from a birth certificate if their license was suspended for misconduct or abuse. (NY Post)

If you love being creeped out, you can now book an overnight stay at Madame Tussauds in Times Square. (Time Out)

Where to eat on the Lower East Side. (The Infatuation)

Get your photo featured or suggest stories for The Briefly by responding to this email or tagging your NYC photos and news on Instagram or Twitter with #thebriefly.