The "Pivoting to Pizza" Sunday Edition - March 7-8, 2021

More accusations against Gov Cuomo, the blended learning model comes to an end, a baby goat rescued on the side of a highway, and more

Today - Low: 26˚ High: 39. Clear throughout the day.

The featured photo is back! This one was taken by me. Get your photo featured by emailing it to thebriefly@gmail.com with your Instagram handle (if you want it linked).

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• Photos: Some Barred Owl photos for your Sunday. (D. Bruce Yolton for Urban Hawks)

• A fourth and fifth woman has come forward alleging they were sexually harassed by Governor Cuomo. (Gwynne Hogan and Jen Chung with Brigid Bergin for Gothamist)

• NY Attorney General Letitia James asked members of Governor Cuomo's administration to safeguard any records germane to her office's sexual harassment inquiry. (Jesse McKinley and Luis Ferré-Sadurní for NY Times)

• This week it's movie theaters, next month it's small venues, the city is relaxing restrictions right when the CDC issued guidelines to avoid nonessential indoor spaces, warning an increase in cases and deaths tied to indoor dining. (Sophia Chang for Gothamist)

• New York state prisons have begun vaccinating inmates with preexisting conditions, waiting until everyone over 65 who wanted a vaccine received it. (Caroline Lewis for Gothamist)

• Infection rates in the city are four times higher than they were in the summer (6% now, 1.5% in August) but Governor Cuomo is pushing the city towards reopening small venues on April 2. With a capacity of 100-150 people, venue depending, it may not be worth reopening for many venues anyway. (Ben Yakas for Gothamist)

• Trader Joe's rehired the employee who sent a letter to the CEO about his concerns about workplace safety. Hard to say he would have been rehired had the national media not latched on to the story. (Erika Adams for Eater)

• The FDNY started vaccinating home-bound seniors with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in Co-op City in the Bronx on Thursday and will move to Brighton Beach on Friday. For the rest of us, you get what you get and you don't get upset. The city is only expected to have 71k doses of the J&J vaccine in the first two weeks of availability. (Devin Gannon for 6sqft)

• The pizza at Impasto in Clinton Hill is being described as Roman in style (think PQR) but adds the weight of a heavy hand when it comes to toppings. (Scott Lynch for Gothamist)

• The pandemic has meant big business for big pizza, but it's also meant a resurgence within the city. Five restaurants pivoting to pizza. (Rob Patronite for Grub Street)

• The city has promised to install 10,000 bike racks by the end of 2022. They got started on their work with six new bike racks in the Bronx. (Matt Troutman for Patch)

• A car crash in midtown collided with an outdoor dining structure, destroying the structure and injuring seven, including a five and seven-year-old. The crash happened on Second between 50th and 51st, with the structure of Crave Fishbar being destroyed. (Jake Offenhartz for Gothamist)

• Farewell to Esca, an influential, seafood-focused Italian restaurant in the theater district, which opened in 2000. (Brett Anderson for NY Times)

• Okay, the photo of this baby goat that was found on the side of a highway in Queens is adorable. The story has a happy ending, as Capricorn the goat is now living at an animal sanctuary in New Jersey, listening to Bruce Springsteen and watching The Sopranos on HBO Max using a friend's login information while trying to convince its friends that they should visit Asbury Park when it gets warm. (Jessica Parks for Brooklyn Paper)

• RIP Richie Tienken, founder of the Comic Strip comedy club, where Eddie Murphy, Jerry Seinfeld, and Chris Rock were performed early in their careers. (Neil Genzlinger for NY Times)

• Reflect is a new interactive art installation at Domino Park, that uses illuminated circular pads to create a 2,400-square-foot light show. It's open to the public from 8 am-10 pm daily. (Will Gleason for Time Out)

• An assistant building super died in a freak accident in an elevator room while retrieving a tenant's cell phone that fell into the elevator shaft. This is the city's second elevator-related death in a month. (David Cruz for Gothamist)

• The state's planned redesign of Marsha P. Johnson State Park in Green point appears to be headed for a re-redesign as local advocates, local politicians, and the friends and family of Marsha P. Johnson objected to the acre of asphalt the state planned on installing in the park. (Ben Weiss for Greenpointers)

• Meet sweet baby Sidney, the New York Aquarium's new harbor seal pup that was rescued in California towards the end of last year. (Shaye Weaver for Time Out)

• The Hudson River Park Trust is getting $5 million in state funding to build a two-block bicycle and pedestrian path along the West Side Highway to close a gap between Pier 97 and Riverside Park. The path is a connecting piece of the Empire State Trail which connects hiking and biking paths from Battery Park to Buffalo and the state's northern Canadian border. (Robert Pozarycki for amNewYork Metro)

• Expect an announcement in the coming week about reopening high schools. (Matt Troutman for Patch)

• The city is expected to have two options for schooling for the 2021-2022 year, fully remote or fully in-person, ending the blended model that is currently being used. (Christina Veiga for Chalkbeat)

“The city’s SoHo/NoHo rezoning plan is being packaged as one which will increase equity, affordability, and diversity, and generate a great deal of new affordable housing. In fact, a closer examination shows it will do none of these, and would, in fact, make these neighborhoods richer, whiter, and more expensive than they are now, while disproportionately squeezing out lower-income tenants and people of color.”
-Andrew Berman, Executive Director of Village Preservation of GVSHP on the city's proposed Soho/Noho upzoning. (GVSHP)

• They do exist, so here are the Republicans running for mayor. (Elizabeth Kim for Gothamist)

• 15 soups to help ride out the rest of winter. (Bath Landman for Eater)

Today’s featured pet is Marley! (email your pet pics to thebriefly@gmail.com)

Thanks to reader Michael for the photo!