The "I Didn't Vote for Pepperoni" Edition
Juneteenth, the mayoral debate, the Brooklyn Bridge bike path, the city's favorite pizza topping, the best new brunches, and more
Today - Low: 70˚ High: 81˚
Partly cloudy throughout the day.
This weekend - Low: nice 69˚ High: 85˚

• Mayor de Blasio vowed Juneteenth would be an official holiday for city workers. He did not follow through with that vow. (Dana Rubinstein and Luis Ferré-Sadurní for NY Times)
• FREEFEST 2021 will celebrate Black creatives and community builders at a live festival in Domino Park this Saturday, Juneteenth. (Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner for Greenpointers)
• 12 ways to celebrate Juneteenth in NYC. (Irene Madrigal for Untapped New York)
• Video: Watch the final Democratic Mayoral Debate, which happened on the same stage as SNL. (NBC New York)
• The mayor's review of the debate was "Pretty uninspiring." (Matt Troutman for Patch)
• Eight key moments from the debate. (Elizabeth Kim for Gothamist)
• The Times' highlights and analysis from the debate. (NY Times)
• Protestors are demanding the mayor and City Council keep their promise to reduce the NYPD budget by $1 billion. Despite promises, the actual NYPD budget was not reduced by a significant amount. (Dean Moses for amNewYork Metro)
• Work starts on the new Brooklyn Bridge bike path on Monday night and is scheduled to finish by the fall with no specific date announced. (Ben Verde for amNewYork Metro)
• Photos, Video: NYC's "reopening" fireworks over the New York harbor. (Ben Yakas for Gothamist)
• Harvey Weinstein is going to be shipped to California to face rape and sexual assault charges. I hope he survives the trip and the remainder of his 23 year sentence in New York. May he live an abnormally long and miserable life. (Jonah E. Bromwich and Dan Higgins for NY Times)
• A look at Alpine Cinema, Brooklyn's oldest movie theater. (Duncan Freeman for Brooklyn Magazine)
• Remember when billionaire scumbag Stephen Ross started raising money to influence the Democratic primary for mayor for a business-friendly mayor? Well, he raised less than $875,000. (Kathryn Brenzel for The Real Deal)
• The mayor's ranked-choice voting exercise about pizza toppings has resulted in pepperoni being ranked as the city's favorite pizza topping. (Anna Rahmanan for Time Out)
• If you've been confused about how ranked-choice voting works, there's a good visualization about how the re-allocation of votes works. (RankedVote.co)
• How has your City Council candidate's track record looked like? There's an online tool for that. (Ann Choi for The City)
• Whoops. Eric Adams blamed the “good friend” he says he gave away his shares of a Brooklyn co-op to for some of the confusion surrounding his tangled property records. (Greg B. Smith for The City)
• The top polling mayoral candidates may be somewhat disappointing to progressives of New York City, but there is strong focus for the City Council. (Michael Gold for NY Times)
• Masks are no longer required on outdoor Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad and Staten Island Railway stations and bus stops. (Sarah Belle Lin for Patch)
• How to spend a Saturday afternoon in Red Hook. Lobster rolls, ribs, key lime pie, and how to get there. (Hannah Albertine for The Infatuation)
• If you're looking to get a bike, you might be out of luck. Beyond demand, which is already high, the impact of the pandemic in Asia is hitting the supply as well. There might not be a better time to sell that extra bike. (Stephen Nessen for Gothamist)
• It's time to vaccinate the masses! I am, of course, speaking of vaccinating the city's trash panda population. The city is vaccinating the raccoons in Inwood Hill and Fort Tryon Parks with oral vaccines against rabies. (Robert Pozarycki for amNewYork Metro)
• The largest bounce house in the world is coming back to Brooklyn this summer. At over 13,000 square feet I think it's larger than every apartment I've lived in for the last 15 years. (Shaye Weaver for Time Out)
• Remember when three NYPD officers straight-up lied about being "poisoned" by milkshakes at the Shake Shack? The manager filed a defamation lawsuit against the NYPD unions that falsely claimed that there was bleach in the milkshakes. The lawsuit is asking for unspecified damages. (Erika Adams for Eater)
• In praise of the stuffed pizza at La Villa Pizzeria, one of the city's best pizzerias. (Robert Sietsema for Eater)
• The story of how the city's law department got hacked. How they got in? Of course someone got a hold of a worker's email and password. (Ashley Southall, Benjamin Weiser and Dana Rubinstein for NY Times)
• The Mermaid Parade will return to Coney Island on September 12. King Neptune and Queen Mermaid have not been announced yet. (Jessica Parks for Brooklyn Paper)
• 20 small things that bring New Yorkers immense joy. (Shaye Weaver for Time Out)
• Photos: A sea lion pup was born on Memorial Day at the New York Aquarium. (Emily Davenport for amNewYork Metro)
• If you've been in New York long enough, you remember when the empty pier next to Ikea in Red Hook was going to be a mall. Instead of a mall it's going to be a warehouse. (Craig Hubert for Brownstoner)
• The MTA has been in a "state of emergency" since June 29, 2017, right in the middle of the "summer of hell." No one except the governor has the ability to extend the state of emergency for another year and you won't be surprised to find out that it gives the governor more power over the MTA. (Stephen Nessen for Gothamist)
• Brooklyn will be getting its own marathon in 2022. Time to dust off the Couch to 5K as a starter. (Anna Rahmanan for Time Out)
• A guide to the city's growing birria taco scene. (Robert Sietsema for Eater)
Featured Pet: Gigi!
Today’s featured pet is Gigi! Thanks to Gigi’s person Barbara for sending in this photo of Gigi is in one of her favorite napping spots. Gigi’s also developed the habit of throwing her toys in the shower while Barbara is showering. Gigi! Respect some boundaries! Send in your pet/animal photo to thebriefly@gmail.com to be featured.