The Briefly for October 3, 2018 – Illness, Microbes, and Epidemics Shaped Our City
The Presidential Alert System will be tested at 2:18pm today. If you have a phone that can receive text messages, you'll be receiving a message. Three New Yorkers are fighting today's test in court. (NY Post)
How illness, microbes, and epidemics designed New York City. (Curbed)
A NIMBY lawsuit is aimed at trying to stop the addition of bus priority lanes, bike lanes, sidewalk expansions, and anything else that might be helpful during the L train shutdown. (Gothamist)
The check is no longer in the mail. Vanessa Bandie, Lauren Johnson, Paul Daniels, and James Black were charged in connection with stealing more than $29,000 from checks in the mail (BKLYNER).
Governor Cuomo signed legislation that allows pets to be brought on any public transit during an emergency. (NY Post)
If you left your gun in the Lambs Club bathroom last week, the NYPD has your gun. (Eater)
A 9-year-old girl was sitting on her window-mounted air conditioner when it fell out of the sixth floor and she followed down to the second story roof of a day care next to her building. She survived and suffered a broken ankle. (Daily News)
Rent increases have gone into effect for rent-stabilized apartments, after the Rent Guidelines Board voted to allow rent hikes. One-year leases will increase 1.5% and two-year leases will increase 2.5%. (Curbed)
The city's 20 premiere pastry shops. (Eater)
After a third daylight shooting in three months near the Fulton Mall, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams has called for a meeting to prevent future violence. (BKLYNER)
The Central Park Squirrel Census needs volunteers! (amNY)
An accident in Brooklyn turned into a wild gunpoint kidnapping and extortion that ended on an eighth-floor fire escape on the Upper West Side. (Gothamist)
Mayor de Blasio created a new position in his administration, a chief democracy officer, whose job it will be to get people registered to vote and civil participation. Critics warn that the $165k/year job is a waste of money, similar to the "night mayor," who is paid $130k/year. (NY Post)
If you have thoughts on the proposed 40-story jail that Mayor de Blasio wants to put on Atlantic Avenue in Boerum Hill, . You can email boroughplan@doc.nyc.gov (Brooklyn Paper)
The Lower East Side Mall is nearly complete. Marshalls is opening next door to Katz's on Thursday. (Bowery Boogie)
The Trump administration is withholding on over a billion dollars in funding for transit projects and have been fighting against granting any funding for projects. The MTA's "Fast Forward" plan will cost between $14 and $43 billion and relies heavily on federal funding. (Transit for America)
The best neighborhoods in the city for bookworms in celebration of National Book Month. (StreetEasy)
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