The "Illegal Rave Scene" Edition
The "Illegal Rave Scene" Edition
Mayor de Blasio supports decriminalizing sex work, outdoor sports returns, indoor dining increases, the best new sandwiches, and more
Today - Low: 32˚ High: 41˚
Partly cloudy throughout the day.
This weekend - Low: 37˚ High: 55˚
• Apartment Lust: A $3,495,000 co-op at 10 Gramercy Park South, recently renovated, with keys to Gramercy Park, two bedrooms, a fireplace, garden, and more. (Dana Schulz for 6sqft)
• The city is late on its payments and non-profit homeless shelter operators are on the "precipice of failure" after the city expanded shelter options to protect people from Covid-19. (Mirela Iverac for Gothamist)
• The city has distributed three million vaccine doses. (Matt Troutman for Patch)
• Here are the city's 100+ eligible streets for its Open Culture program, which allowed permitted, ticketed, socially distanced performances, classes, or rehearsals. (Devin Gannon for 6sqft)
• Shakespeare in the Park is coming back this year, with current state regulations allowing for 500 of the 2,000 tickets to be sold. Merry Wives of Windsor by Jocelyn Bioh will run intermission-free from July 5 to August 29. If you thought tickets were hard to get before, this year will be a doozy. (Will Gleason for Time Out)
• Renderings: Developers are pushing two massive towers with over 1,000 apartments and a public beach in Williamsburg. The plans would provide continuous access to the East River from South Williamsburg to Greenpoint. (Devin Gannon for 6sqft)
• Mayor de Blasio made a statement that sex work should be decriminalized in the city. I'd love to hear from readers about this, because from what I've seen this seems to be focused on human trafficking and labor exploitation and not a true focus on decriminalizing sex work. I know enough about the subject to know it's a minefield if you're not paying close attention. You can email me if you're interested. (Matt Troutman for Patch)
• On April 1, outdoor sports will welcome fans back at 20%. This is just in time for the Yankees home opener on April 1, which will allow 10,850 fans, and the Mets home opener on April 8, which will allow 8,384 fans. (Dana Schulz for 6sqft)
• Part of the decriminalization announcement was the dismissal of nearly 700 open prostitution cases at the request of Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, 200 of which involved the now-repealed "Walking While Trans" ban. (Christina Santucci for LIC Post)
• Radio City Music Hall is getting a rooftop park and skybridge, which was approved by the city's Landmarks Preservation Committee this week. IT's expected to open this fall. (Devin Gannon for 6sqft)
• The founders of Ample Hill are back with a new ice cream spot called the Social. Ample Hills declared bankruptcy before the pandemic hit last year. (Alan Sytsma for Grub Street)
• 9 affordable historic NYC neighborhoods for renters. StreetEasy's "affordable" means rent under $3,000. (Kathryn O'Shea-Evans for StreetEasy)
• Speaking of rent, time is running out if you wanted to find discounted rent in Manhattan. You've got until the summer to make your move. (Jeff Andrews for Curbed)
• A list of restaurants and bars reopening in the East Village, when indoor dining capacity returns to 50%. (EV Grieve)
• A feature on Pig, the cat that lives inside Westsider Rare and Used Books on the Upper West Side. Of course, there are photos of Pig. (Bobby Panza for I Love the Upper West Side)
• A fickle but crucial companion to the NYC night out: the shot/beer combo. (Matt Giudice for The Free Pour)
• Apartment Lust: A $15,995,000 townhouse in Chelsea where you can hang a "Mother Teresa Slept Here" sign. Also, it has three balconies, a roof terrace, a large garden with a hot tub, a 1,000 bottle wine cellar, and over 9,000 square feet of living space. (Dana Schulz for 6sqft)
• The City answered all of your Ranked Choice Voting questions, working with folx from Rank the Vote and Fair Vote. (Rachel Holliday Smith for The City)
"Mayor de Blasio already said he wants open streets made permanent. The city Department of Transportation is holding meetings about how 34th Avenue should be transformed. Most of the ideas relate to specific treatments, such as how to restrict vehicle passage or where to put benches. But we need to think bigger: 34th Avenue should become a memorial to the COVID pandemic."
-Steven Bodzin in Make 34th Avenue a Living Memorial to the Pandemic for Streetsblog
• Attention early birds: You can now catch the sunrise from the Empire State Building's observation deck. Tickets are available for March 27, April 3, and April 10. (Shaye Weaver for Time Out)
• Podcast: An interview with State Assemblymember Ron Kim about blackmail, politics, and human beings. (FAQ NYC)
• We've all seen them around the city: The zombie billboards of NYC. (Tim Donnelly for Curbed)
• The daughter of NY Senator Patrick Moynihan is accused of telling an Asian American couple to "go back to Communist China" on video. Maura Moynihan is a consultant to the Robin Museum and advocated for Moynihan Station, which Governor Cuomo named for her father. (Jake Offenhartz for Gothamist)
• Indoor fitness classes can resume at 33% capacity on Monday, despite opposition from city officials. (Will Gleason for Time Out)
• The Times takes a look at the illegal rave scene during the pandemic. (Jessica Lipsky for NY Times)
• The building that houses the Mercury Lounge is now on sale for $7.5 million. The Mercury Lounge renewed its lease in December of last year according to the listing. (Elie Z. Perler for Bowery Boogie)
• The best new sandwiches in NYC. (Hannah Albertine, Nikko Duren, Carlo Mantuano for The Infatuation)
• The City Council is looking to strip the NYPD Commissioner of the ability to overrule any discipline handed down in NYPD internal trials with a pair of new bills. The NYPD Commissioner has voided rulings more than 40 times since 2017. The new bills would hand authority over to the CCRB instead. (Greg B. Smith for The City)
• New studies support the idea that NYC school closures may not be needed except during the most extreme Covid-19 surges. (Jamie Leventhal for Gothamist)
• FBI investigators probing the Cuomo administration’s handling of nursing homes during the pandemic last spring are seeking information about a state budget provision that gave operators legal immunity and how it got into the state's budget. (Josefa Velasquez for The City)
• President Biden stated that if the NY Attorney General's investigation supports the claims against Governor Cuomo that Cuomo should resign. (Brooklyn Eagle)
• People close to Governor Cuomo tried to tarnish the reputation of his first accuser, which is absolutely something that an innocent person would do and not a scumbag move from someone worried they'll be forced to resign in disgrace. (Maggie Haberman and Jesse McKinley for NY Times)
• 49% of New Yorkers don't believe that Governor Cuomo should resign, while 43% support his resignation, according to a new Quinnipiac poll. Meanwhile, his approval rating has sunk to a historically low 39%. (Nick Reisman for NY1)
• Six scenic walks in the city and what to eat nearby. (Nikko Duren for The Infatuation)
Featured Pet: Rue!
