The Briefly for November 1-2, 2020 – The "Time to Buy Discount Candy" Sunday Edition

Today - Low: 35˚ High: 57˚

Rain in the afternoon and evening.

Halloween is over. The first time you'll hear "All I Want For Christmas Is You" this year could happen any minute now. New York City is the second-best city in the world. Who did we lose out to? Those bastards in London. (Will Gleason for Time Out) "I have to urge all New Yorkers—do not travel out of state for the holidays." -Mayor de Blasio, laying out that this year, everyone gets a pass on visiting family. (Shaye Weaver for Time Out) Ask An Epidemiologist: How should I handle the holidays? Bullet point number one: If in doubt, don't go. (Jen Carlson for Gothamist) An autumn NYC bingo card. (Jen Carlson and Sarah Butler for Gothamist) The rules have changed for interstate travel, so let's take a look. If you're coming to New York, you're supposed to have a negative Covid-19 test within three days of traveling and once you're in New York, you'll have to isolate until the fourth day after returning and take another Covid-19 test. If you decline a test, you have to quarantine for 14 days. This doesn't apply to travel to and from Connecticut or New Jersey. This applies to travel from everywhere, not just specific states. How will this be enforced? Once again Cuomo has made his favorite move: shifting the blame onto "local health departments." No doubt, he will have a press conference in a few weeks, blaming another surge in numbers of a lack of local enforcement. (Sophia Chang for Gothamist) Governor Cuomo gave the go-ahead for schools in the city's hot zones to reopen with stricter testing guidelines. Everyone, staff and students, must first test negative for Covid-19 and after that testing, 25% of the school must be tested on a weekly basis. A school will be shut down if nine positive tests come back or if any school with over 300 tests has a 2% positivity rate. The city's rules state if a school has two positive cases, the school must close, so we are left in a weird place where the city's rules apple on top of the state's. (Alex Zimmerman for Chalkbeat) How's the city doing when it comes to Covid-19? Not great, Bob. There are 67 of 177 zip codes where the average positivity rate is over 2%. Sixteen of them are over 3%. (Elizabeth Kim and Jake Dobkin for Gothamist) Covid-19 hospitalizations are up, but the situation is not nearly as dire as it was in the spring, with multiple factors preventing a high death count. (J. David Goodman and Joseph Goldstein for NY Times) A Tale of Two Cities: Looking at why the rate of Covid-19 testing is 4x higher in wealthy neighborhoods compared to low-income neighborhoods. (Ginia Bellafante for NY Times) Only 15% of Manhattan office employees are expected to return by the end of this year, which is down from the estimated 26%, an estimate made in August. (Matt Troutman for Patch) Are you headed back to the office? Here are the perks companies are using to entice their workers to come back. (J. David Goodman for NY Times) The only way to really self-isolate is to go to your own island. Ask Kim Kardashian-West, she'll agree. For only $4.9 million, you can own your own private island in New York with a century-old mansion on the property along with 24/7 security, a private beach, and a kitchen larger than most restaurants in the city. (Dana Schulz for 6qsft)

The great divide in New York isn’t partisan or ideological. And it’s not about where Upstate begins, or which side of that mythical border you fall on. It’s a divide by wealth – of who is struggling amid this pandemic, and who is profiting off of it. Who faces the catastrophic consequences of New York’s budget deficit, and who is insulated from both the stakes of the problem and the policies that could be the solution.

-Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and State Senator Jessica Ramos, A just recovery: It’s time for a billionaires’ tax, for amNewYork Metro

Look at this warehouse full of 400 assholes in Williamsburg. Nearly 400 people were at an illegal Halloween party that was broken up by the city. eight people face multiple charges over the party. (David Cruz for Gothamist) Photos: Some traditions shouldn't die. November 1? Time to look at photos of costumes and go raid the stores for candy. There was no Village Halloween parade this year, but here's a photo gallery from Halloween parades past. Now go buy yourself some cheap candy (Amanda Hatfield for BrooklynVegan) This year's greatest Halloween innovation is the candy chute. (Jen Carlson for Gothamist) Photos: Before we get into the election stuff, let's take a moment to find serenity. Fall foliage is about to peak in NYC. (Jen Carlson for Gothamist) Photos: More photos of foliage in the city. (Collier Sutter for Time Out) Along with peak foliage, the bufflehead ducks are here. This link is complete with a guide to help you spot them. (Jen Carlson for Gothamist) Staten Island has a duck problem. It seems that people have been releasing domestic ducks into the wild and domestic ducks don't have natural camouflage or know that it's time to leave the city once it gets too cold. Urban Rangers have been doing their best to capture them and bring them to sanctuaries in order to prevent them from freezing to death in the winter. (Bree Driscoll for NY1) How to avoid election stress. (Katherine Cusumano for NY Times) The most hotly contested election in NYC will be between Congressmember Max Rose and Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis, and with a toss-up in the polls and a high number of absentee ballots, the fight will extend far beyond election day. (Clifford Michel for The City) Who doesn't love Paul Rudd? He showed up at the Barclay's Center to give out cookies to people waiting to cast an early ballot. (Josephine Harvey for HuffPost) Governor Cuomo once said that he wasn't going to wait for neighboring states to legalize marijuana before he made it happen in New York. On Tuesday New Jersey is voting to legalize marijuana and New York has nothing aside from multiple years of promises that it's gonna happen. Legalization is currently polling at 66%. (Karen Rouse for Gothamist) The MTA will not be restoring overnight service on Election Day, forcing poll workers who need to have polling locations open at 6 am looking for other plans. The MTA says that poll workers can get car service if their commute is over 90 minutes on Election Day, but the Board of Education will foot the bill. (NY1) The MTA has put a 50% reduction of service and scuttling improvements on the table when it comes to trying to fix a gaping hole in its budget. This is a doomsday scenario that would cause New York to lose nearly 450,000 jobs by 2022 and losing $50 billion in the process. (Christina Goldbaum for NY Times) This is the headline: Driver, Union Say MTA Bus Dispatchers Need Empathy Training After Menstrual Ordeal. (Hasani Gittens for The City) Make sure that all of your non-internet-based clocks have been set for Daylight Saving Time. (Shaye Weaver for Time Out) Francisco Garcia, the NYPD officer with a history of seven misconduct lawsuits in five years who also was caught on video punching and then kneeling on a man's neck during a social distance stop, quit the NYPD before a department trial was able to begin. (Jake Offenhartz for Gothamist) Demonstrators and police faced off Tuesday outside the New York City Police Benevolent Association’s headquarters in Lower Manhattan as part of a “Strike The PBA” event, calling for the PBA to be kicked out from the larger labor movement due to its support of officers who have killed New Yorkers and its endorsement of former New Yorker and known racist President Donald Trump. (Amba Guerguerian for The Indypendent) NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea announced Juanita Holmes as the new Chief of Patrol, making her the first woman to ever hold the position in the 175-year history of the department and the highest-ranking Black woman on the police force. (Jake Offenhartz for Gothamist) "Police are on the scene after a car jumped the curb in Queens, killing a woman and child, and injuring a second child." -Mayor de Blasio, who is not speaking from inside an alternative Cars-based alternate reality where cars are sentient and are capable of murder. In this reality, people who drive cars kill people. (Gersh Kuntzman for Streetsblog) A crane accident in the city's second-tallest building sent debris falling to 57th in Billionaire’s Row. Thankfully no one was hurt. (Ed Shanahan for NY Times) Mayor de Blasio gave the go-ahead for the sale of The Mets to billionaire Steve Cohen. Starting today, Cohen is re-instituting unionized employees' pre-pandemic salaries. (Ben Yakas for Gothamist) Say hello to Brittany Bond, founder of Common Books, who operates the city's only traveling book cart. (Nicoleta Papavasilakis for Untapped New York) "Always read the plaque" is a mantra we should all live by. Stop by 555 Hudson St to find a new plaque honoring Jane Jacobs, who lived at the address from 1947 - 1968. (Davin Gannon for 6sqft) 19 stand-out vegan dishes to try right now. (Emily Wilson for Eater) The New York Times has discovered that people have roommates. (Kim Velsey for NY Times) Apartment Porn: A $15 million, three-story Upper East Side penthouse that overlooks Central Park, complete with a glass solarium, two terraces, and a separate one-bedroom guest residence. (Dana Schulz for 6sqft) Heist! They stole more than 4,000 Prada, Gucci, and Chanel items from a cargo area at JFK, making off with $6 million in goods... until they were arrested. (Troy Closson for NY Times) The best Filipino restaurants in the city. (Nikko Duren for The Infatuation) Thanks to reader Lisa for today's featured photo!