The "Masks, Mandates, and Boosters, Oh My" Edition
The best cat in the city, Covid-19 testing sites, Eric Adams announces corrections and police commissioner picks, the best restaurants in the West Village, a disco ball Christmas tree, 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: 44˚ High: 59˚
Mostly cloudy throughout the day.
This weekend - Low: 30˚ High: 49˚
The latest Covid-19 positivity rate is 3.6%.
78.8% of city residents have been vaccinated. (Source: The City’s Coronavirus tracker)
• Get well NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who tested positive for Covid-19. (NY1)
• MAP: NYC Covid-19 Testing Sites. Search the map, find a site. You don't have to wait in long lines at CityMD. (Castlight)
• What's with the long lines for testing? Mayor de Blasio shut down 20 city-run Covid-19 testing sites in November. It's not the only reason but it certainly doesn't help. (Claudia Irizarry Aponte, Will Welch, and Eileen Grench for The City)
• The Atlantic published a great piece about why Omicron is worth worrying about. (Ed Yong for The Atlantic)
• Restaurants have been temporarily closing across this city as staffs learn about Covid-19 exposures. Eater has an updating list of restaurants that have temporarily closed, which is currently at a dozen. (Luke Fortney for Eater)
• The Bowery Ballroom and Mercury Lounge announced masks are mandatory regardless of vaccination status while not actively eating or drinking. Expect to see this policy in place in other venues in the next few days as I've been seeing show cancelations due to performers testing positive. (Elie Perler for Bowery Boogie)
• Two vaccinations aren't good enough to get into the Metropolitan Opera. Beginning January 17, 2022, everyone will need a booster shot before being allowed entry to the Met. (Shaye Weaver for Time Out)
• Interview: How the city is tracking down Omicron cases with Dr. Ted Long, executive director of the New York City Test & Trace Corps. (Jacylyn Jeffrey-Wilensky, interview by Michael Hill for Gothamist)
• NYC’s rising Covid-19 cases are straining the city's school response time on quarantines and closures. (Amy Zimmer and Christina Veiga for Chalkbeat)
• The city announced admission policies for middle and high schools for 2022. Middle schools will continue a pause on academic screens, and high schools will dramatically streamline their competitive admissions criteria. (Christina Veiga for Chalkbeat)
• Eric Adams has chosen Keechant Sewell to be his commissioner of the NYPD. She will be the first woman to lead the NYPD. Adams chose her from her post as the Nassau County chief of detectives. Another Long Islander coming to work for the NYPD. Elizabeth Kim, Jake Offenhartz, and Charles Lane for Gothamist)
• Over the last twenty years, only 1% of NYPD misconduct cases led to serious discipline according to a new study from the ACLU. (Matt Troutman for Patch)
• Eric Adams wants to bring back solitary confinement at Rikers Island. This was part of his announcement that Louis Molina will be the next Department of Corrections Commissioner. (Reuven Blau for The City)
• Tuesday marked the 16th death of the year inside the city's jail system. A 55-year-old man was found in medical distress. He was six days from a court date and had been in custody since mid-November. (Matt Katz for Gothamist)
• What is the "Floraissance?" You'll have to go to Bushwick to find out more. (Allie Iliana Herrera for Bushwick Daily)
• A hedge fund manager slash billionaire in Manhattan surrendered $70 million in stolen ancient artifacts and was banned for life from acquiring any more. Must be nice to be able to buy $70 million of anything. (Matt Troutman for Patch)
• 17 FiDi lunch spots under $20. (Eater)
• The Fearless Girl statue across from the New York Stock Exchange will not have to be moved. The Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the location for the next three years. (Jen Carlson for Gothamist)
• The City Council voted 43 to 5 to approve the Soho/Noho rezoning plan. Just like the rest of the workforce, City Council is trying to cram in as much work as possible before taking a holiday break. (Andrew Berman for GVSHP)
• The City Council voted to ban the use of gas in new buildings. The ban will begin in either 2024 or 2027, depending on the size of the building. (Samantha Maldonado for The City)
• OMNY weekly price caps will kick in on March 1, 2022. After $33, rides will be at no cost for the rest of the month. (Valeria Ricciulli for Curbed)
• Stop talking about the dead rat buckets. I am begging you. (Jane Margolies for NY Times)
• Real Estate Lust: A $2.6 million Soho loft with 11-foot-high ceilings, two beds, two baths, a two-person whirlpool tub, an elevator entrance, and appears to be set up as a gallery at the moment. Michelle Cohen for 6sqft)
• Congratulations to David Schorr, a director at Sugar Hill Capital Partners, for being New York City's worst landlord of the year. (Nick Garber for Patch)
• The new speaker of the City Council won't be decided until January but two candidates have already claimed victory. Congrats to Adrienne Adams and Francisco Moya, who both think they are going to be the City Council Speaker. (Bill Parry for QNS)
• Sonic is coming to Queens. The fast-food, not the hedgehog. (Scott Lynch for Gothamist)
• Almost no one wants the Rockefeller Christmas tree NFT. (Kevin Duggan for Curbed)
• There are Christmas trees and then there are Christmas trees made of disco balls. (Anna Rahmanan for Time Out)
• The best restaurants in the West Village. (The Infatuation)
Featured Pet: Boss Cat!
Thank you to reader Jessica for sending in this photo of the cat I believe to be Ric from Daytona Trimmings. Ric for mayor. Send your pet/animal photos to thebriefly@gmail.com!
Thank you so much to the three readers who contributed to The Briefly since the last edition using this Ko-Fi link. Thank you so much!