The Briefly for October 18-19, 2020 – The "Phenomenal Cosmic Powers!" Sunday Edition
Today - Low: 55˚ High: 64˚
Partly cloudy throughout the day.
The state passed bail reform last in 2019 and it took effect at the beginning of the year. Since the beginning of the year, people have been poking holes in it. The latest is judges are using overly complicated partially secured bonds to keep people imprisoned. (Akash V. Mehta for NY Focus in partnership with The City) In 2015, President Obama called the Gateway project better connecting New York and New Jersey "the most important project in the country." Here's a look at how the Trump administration has destroyed it. (Stephen Nessen for Gothamist) Apartment Porn: Rachel Maddow's West Village apartment is for sale for $2.4 million. (Dana Schulz for 6sqft) Back in March, the state's legislature gave Governor Cuomo "unlimited" power and maybe it's time to rethink that. (Gwynne Hogan for Gothamist) Bring your totes, NYC's plastic bag enforcement kicks off for real on Monday. Bring your totes. (Matt Troutman for Patch) 16 bars and restaurants with live music outdoors. (Hannah Albertine for The Infatuation)
The pandemic drinking experience is still more convivial than drinking at home, but in bars forced to operate under elaborate and restrictive anti-COVID-19 setups, the experience sometimes more closely evokes the transactional nature of an airport Buffalo Wild Wings than a place where everybody knows your name.
-Ryan Sutton, When Will New York’s Bars Feel Like Bars Again? for Eater
A wedding with over 10,000 guests? It's planned for Monday in Williamsburg, but the state is stepping in and demanding that the Hasidic wedding of a grandchild of the community's leader is limited to 50 people. (Sophia Chang for Gothamist) In a geographically and time-challenging move, The Queens Night Market has opened in Rockefeller Center from 11am-5pm. (Bao Ong for Time Out) Video: Go beyond the pail with a look at what happens to metal, glass, and plastic recycling after the curb. (Matt Coneybeare for Viewing NYC) “Trans women, particularly trans women of more color, are being killed with impunity, and it is past time to meet that emergency with real change that can end this epidemic of violence. Today I am calling upon the governor to acknowledge anti-trans violence as a state of crisis, and encourage the mayor and all of my colleagues in government to join me and the countless advocates who have joined us today in developing comprehensive plans that put an end to anti-trans violence once and for all.” -Public Advocate Jumaane Williams on two bills he's introducing to the City Council to require medical professionals be trained to care for transgender and gender non-conforming patients and to include signage in all hospitals showing transgender patients' rights and services available. (Paul Schindler for Gay City News) A 2020 election reading list. (Sara Webster for Brooklyn Based)
"We don’t know yet how many restaurants will be razed by the pandemic. Anecdotally, the answer seems to be: a lot. Every few days, another restaurant closes, and every few days, I think, Oh, I never went."
-Rachel Sugar, Mourning the Restaurants I’ll Never Get to Visit, for Grub Street
A look at the dozen vegan or vegetarian restaurants that have opened during the pandemic and how personal politics, sustainability, and price all play a part in their successes. (Emma Orlow for Eater) Vegan "kind of Chineses" Fat Choy gets a Quick Bites review, "an instant winner." (Scott Lynch for Gothamist) 11 helpful New York social distancing hacks. Don't hold the door, the smell of perfume is a bad sign, and more. (Shaye Weaver for Time Out) Budgeting for an NYC rental: rent to income ratio. (Erika Riley for StreetEasy) Fracking doesn't seem like an NYC-centric story until you read about protestors who locked themselves to a fracked gas pipeline construction project in Williamsburg on Thursday morning. (Kevin Duggan for Brooklyn Paper) Manhattan's empty office space is creeping towards post-9/11 levels. (Greg David for The City) The Loisaida Open Streets Community Coalition is seeking volunteers to help set up barricades in the mornings/evenings. (EV Grieve) Turns out Chirlane McCray, leader of the city's Thrive NYC initiative and wife of Mayor de Blasio will not be running for Brooklyn borough president. There are eight candidates who have already created campaign committees. (Brigid Bergin for Gothamist) Want to own a piece of the Waldorf Astoria? The hotel is auctioning off over 15,000 fine furnishings. (Justin Wu for Untapped New York) The MTA is piloting a new air filtration and purification system on the LIRR and MetroNorth that the manufacturer claims can capture and kill 99.9998% of viruses and other germs through a three-stage process, including Covid-19. (Stephen Nessen for Gothamist) Wilmer Ferrara attempted to climb the New York Times building, but only got as high as the sixth floor and got tired, waiting for the police to get him. He was arrested. (ABC7) Meet Ronald Lauder, the billionaire Republican trying to fight a Democratic supermajority in the state. A supermajority would give the legislature much more power against Governor Cuomo when it comes to budget discussions. (Jesse McKinley for NY Times) The NYPD's oversight board will recommend discipline for Officer Wayne Isaacs, more than four years after the cop fatally shot Delrawn Small in front of his girlfriend and two children. (Jake Offenhartz for Gothamist) NOAA has released their winter prediction for New York and it looks like we're in for a dried and warmer winter than usual. (Adam Nichols for Patch) Get ready, because restaurants can legally add a 10% "recovery charge to your bill starting this weekend. (Bao Ong for Time Out) An independent commission tasked with reviewing institutional racism in the New York court system detailed a “culture of toxicity and unprofessionalism” among court officers across the state in a report from the Equal Justice in the Courts task force. (Noah Singer for Brooklyn Eagle) A planned move of homeless men from the Lucerne Hotel on the Upper West Side to another hotel in the Financial District will proceed after a state Supreme Court judge declined to block the move. (Sophia Chang for Gothamist) Construction on the 2/3/4/5 between Franklin Ave in Brooklyn and Manhattan will interrupt traveling for 64 weekends over the course of 33 months. Oh boy. (Claude Scales for Brooklyn Heights Blog) The best ways to celebrate Halloween 2020 in NYC. (6sqft)