The Briefly for May 13, 2020 – The "Social Distance Chicken is the Mascot We Need Right Now" Edition

Today - Low: 46˚ High: 59˚

Clear throughout the day.

Broadway will be closed through Labor Day, at least. It's tough news but is necessary for ticket holders, who have had the fate of their summer ticket purchases up in the air for some time. (Michael Paulson for NY Times) The "new normal" that everyone is talking about has one universal theme: a lot of new rules to follow. Greenmarkets could provide a glimpse into our future, as they've remained open throughout the pandemic. (Robin Raisfeld for Grub Street) Remember haircuts? What's a haircut gonna look like once salons and barbershops reopen? Here's a peek into what we may be in for. (Shaye Weaver for Time Out) Good morning, and only good morning, to Greenpoint bar Magazine's mascot, the Social Distance Chicken. (Collier Sutter for Time Out) Between March 16 and May 10, the NYPD made 125 arrests that were related to the coronavirus, and 166 people, 93% of those arrested were people of color. (Kevin Duggan for Brooklyn Paper) The city's Public Advocate Jumaane Williams doesn't blame the NYPD for the racial discrepancy in arrests and summons, but Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio. Williams led a protest march in Manhattan on Monday, which the NYPD allowed to complete, despite first amendment rallies being momentarily banned. Williams's point isn't that the rules that are established are being arbitrarily enforced, but that the rules represent an undue burden on people of color? It's such a ponderous argument to make that I assume I haven't read the article right. (Todd Maisel for amNewYork Metro) In a potentially unholy pairing, Uber is looking at eating GrubHub. (Chris Crowley for Grub Street) City Council has modified a proposed emergency bill capping third-party food delivery fees for restaurants — raising the maximum fee from 10 percent to 20 percent, depending on how the restaurant uses the services, with a $1,000 fine per restaurant per day for non-compliance. Currently, delivery app companies charge upwards of 30%. (Erika Adams for Eater) “If our employees are in a role and situation that enables them to work from home and they want to continue to do so forever, we will make that happen.” Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey laid out a future where working in the company's Midtown South offices won't be required for NYC employees. (Kathryn Brenzel for The Real Deal) Is putting thousands of people inside of one building a thing of the past? Facebook and Google have extended work-from-home through the end of the year. Chase is re-evaluating whether to send its 180,000 employees back to its NYC offices. If more companies follow where Twitter is going, get ready for Manhattan, with the country's largest business district, to face a reckoning it's never experienced before. (Matthew Haag for NY Times) Impossibly adding a pop-up office to an 400-square-foot apartment, a miraculous feat by small-space connoisseur Rae Lambert. (Dana Schulz for 6sqft) Apartment Porn: For $13.5 million in Brooklyn Heights, you get two terraces, a garden, arched entrances, five beds, and seven baths. That's enough room to display all your Beanie Babies and Trolls dolls. (Amy Plitt for Curbed) The best Cuban sandwiches available for takeout and delivery. (Florence Fabricant for NY Times) A horrifying dive into how the Department of Education continually downplayed the threat of Covid-19 on the city's children, including allowing large gatherings, withholding information, improperly cleaning, not contacting the Health Department if a teacher had tested positive and more. (Greg B. Smith for The City) Pedestrianize Queens' gold courses is the out-of-the-box thinking that we need right now. Kudos to City Council Member Constantinides for proposing the idea. (Loulou Chryssides for Give Me Astoria) Video: What's the story with the 18-mile wire circling most of Manhattan? An investigation into Manhattan's eruv. (Half as Interesting) Mayor de Blasio signed the Dangerous Vehicle Abatement Program into law in February but has allocated zero dollars towards it, effectively killing the program. Since de Blasio signed the bill, over 700 drivers have received more than 15 speeding tickets each. The program would mandate training for drivers with fifteen or more speeding tickets or five or more red light tickets in a year. (Gersh Kuntzman for Streetsblog) Videos: Highlights of the Rise Up New York! COVID-19 benefit. (Ben Yakas for Gothamist) Video: Take a look back 110 years into what Coney Island was like in 1910 with this colorized video from the original Luna Park at its peak. (Shaye Weaver for Time Out) New York City's jail population has been reduced by 28% since March, only 8% have been rearrested, although an unnamed police official told Gothamist that 8% is a high number. There were several major crimes, but no murders. It's hard to determine the real impact because the releases happened due to a change in the bail law and the coronavirus outbreak. (Beth Fertig for Gothamist) Video: Are ice cream trucks essential? The co-founder of Funtime Frostee makes his case. (Nilo Tabrizy, Ainara Tiefenthäler, and Noah Throop for NY Times) Are your brows looking more like two caterpillars than you want them to? Tips form city's salons on shaping and tweezing your own eyebrows. Desperate times call for desperate measures. (Shaye Weaver for Time Out) Once restaurants reopen, Mayor de Blasio said the city is open to the idea of allowing restaurants to use street space for seating to allow for more space for patrons. (Ben Yakas for Gothamist) New York City has hired over 500 contact tracing staff and will be providing hotel rooms and support for the tracers as needed so they can remain as isolated as possible while completing their task. (Mark Hallum for amNewYork Metro) Are you tired of the same options for takeout and delivery from the same places? A look at NYC restaurants with new takeout and delivery options. (Hannah Albertine for The Infatuation) Thanks to reader Emma for today's featured flower photo from Chelsea!