The "How Do You Spell MPH?" Edition
The latest on Covid-19/Omicron, de Blasio steps away, the MTA had a boat but it sank, the River Ring Master Plan in Williamsburg, 11 tamales good enough for Christmas, and more
I’d love to see photos of your decorations for the holidays this year, inside or out! Reply to this email to send in your photos!
Today - Low: 41˚ High: 45˚
Mostly cloudy throughout the day.
The latest Covid-19 positivity rate is 6.5%.
79.5% of city residents have been vaccinated. (Source: The City’s Coronavirus tracker)
• It's not just you. Covid-19 test results are taking longer under the "crush" of Omicron tests. (Gwynne Hogan for Gothamist)
• Can we blame SantaCon for this surge in Covid-19 cases? (EV Grieve)
• Farewell Jagged Little Pill, the first Broadway show to close its doors for good thanks to Covid-19. (David Gordon for TheaerMania)
• It's hard to find sympathy for the people complaining that NFL officials cut the line for Covid-19 testing when everyone in that line paid $100 to get a quick turnaround PCR test. Jake Offenhartz for Gothamist)
• City Winery is requiring proof of vaccination and a negative Covid-19 test from the last 24 hours to attend events. Masks will be required at all times when not actively eating/drinking. (Amanda Hatfield for BrooklynVegan)
• Broadway has launched a new website to track schedules if performances will still be taking place in the face of so many Covid-19 shutdowns. (Adam Feldman for Time Out)
• Arlene’s Grocery announced a one-week closure in the cafe of the Omicron surge. (Elie Perler for Bowery Boogie)
• After making a tone-deaf statement that "you need to make your own decision" and refusing to cancel their residency at Brooklyn Steel, LCD Soundsystem canceled their last three shows. "We had enough cancellations to make the vote count", according to their second statement. (Andrew Sacher for BrooklynVegan)
• About 20% of all students in the city's schools were absent on Monday. Attendance was below 80% last week. Four schools are closed and 44 more are under investigation. By insisting that the city will not have a remote learning option for this schools year, have we doomed the system for another failure if it becomes necessary? (Christina Veiga for The City)
• The NYPD is being instructed to wear masks indoors and out when interacting with the public despite vaccination status. The NYPD is very good at telling others to comply, will they? (Ali Watkins for NY Times)
• No four numbers have ever been as welcome as "2022" when the seven-foot-tall numerals arrived in Times Square ahead of New Year's Eve. (Dean Moses for amNY Metro)
• "De Blasio Leaves Promises Unfulfilled, Kisses City Hall Goodbye." A perfect headline. (Matt Troutman for Patch)
• The City looks back at eight years of pledges by Bill de Blasio. (The City)
• Mayor-elect Eric Adams has named five women as deputy mayors to serve the city. Lorraine Grillo was named as first deputy mayor; Anne Williams-Isom as deputy mayor for health and human services; Meera Joshi as deputy mayor for operations; Maria Torres-Springer as deputy mayor for economic and workforce development; and Sheena Wright as deputy mayor for strategic initiatives. (Gloria Pazmino fo NY1)
• Washington Heights Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez was selected to be the city's next head of the Department of Transportation. (Gersh Kuntzman for Streetsblog)
• The City Council approved the River Ring Master Plan proposal for Williamsburg, which will include new housing, a 3-acre public park including a beach, $100 million in resiliency infrastructure, a new YMCA, ongoing meaningful dialogue with the community, and more. (Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner for Greenpointers)
I chose to write about the impact my neighborhood’s gentrification had on me, and how that led me to volunteer with officials in my community who were trying to fight it. -My Parents Collect Cans for a Living by Jessica Yauri for The Nation
• Community Boards, which have been cantankerous about outdoor dining and had been trying to kill the program, are shifting their fight to exert as much control as possible over restaurants. If you can't beat ‘em, attempt to drown ‘em in bureaucratic nonsense. (Max Rivlin-Nadler for Gothamist)
• Quickly: How do you spell MPH? If you answered that correctly on your first attempt you're doing better than the crew that wrote "20 MHP" on Avenue B last week. (EV Grieve)
• The MTA had a boat, but it sank. Why did the MTA have a boat? No one is sure. AS Curbed points out, the MTA's boat ownership was "negligent, wasteful, and hilarious." (Christopher Bonanos for Curbed)
• Brooklyn Magazine played the Brooklyn Monopoly edition so you don't have to. (Nick Youssef for Brooklyn Magazine)
• 11 Mexican tamales good enough for Christmas but perfect year-round. (Luke Fortney for Eater)
Featured Pet: Ziggy Marvel Stardust!
Thank you to reader Karen (@kgershenhorn) for sending in this photo with “old school touchups” of Ziggy Marvel Stardust!
Thank you so much to the two readers who contributed to The Briefly using this Ko-Fi link between the last edition and this morning. Your contributions have been generous and encouraging.