The "Platform Doors Are Happening" Edition
The "Platform Doors Are Happening" Edition
Protests against the mayor's anti-LGBTQ picks, a case to make buses free, a french fry change causes outcries, no one wants Cuomo to make a comeback, fighting against 15-minute delivery apps, and more
Today - Low: 22˚ High: 41˚
Rain in the morning and afternoon.
This weekend - Low: 20˚ High: 41˚
The latest seven-day positivity rate: 1.73%
76.73% of city residents have received two shots, 85.82% of city residents have received one or more shots. Source: NYC Department of Health.
• New York State will welcome refugees from Ukraine. (Nick Reisman for NY1)
• The McPutin’s pop-up on W52nd Street is rebranding. They “won’t ever look back in that direction.” (Sarah Beling for W42ST)
“I am an 87-year-old African-American lesbian who identifies as a person of faith. This is why I strongly object to the actions by Mayor Adams to appoint two clergy who are openly hostile to the LGBTQIA+ community. Both Pastor Fernando Cabrera and Pastor Erick Salgado have taken public positions that are harmful to the well-being of our community.”
-Dr. Wilhelmina Perry, founder emeritus of LGBT Faith Leaders of African Descent and serves on the advisory board of Equality New York, "We Want New York City to Remain Open, Welcoming, and Affirming", Gay City News
• "At this moment, let’s make it very clear. Eric Adams is appointing homophobes and transphobes — and that makes him a homophobe and transphobe." A rally outside of City Hall this week called for rescinding appointments to three anti-LGBTQ pastors in the Adams administration. The mayor's flippant comparison of the distrust of people who worked to invalidate our fellow New Yorkers' identities to "cancel culture" while going on late-night talk shows demonstrates that he does not understand the opposition to his appointments. (Matt Tracy for Gay City News)
• After the mayor's first appointment to head the EDC withdrew after The City reported that he was engaged in illegal lobbying, Mayor Adams named Andrew Kimball, the CEO of Industry City, to run the city's main economic development agency. Kimball is relatively fresh off a failed rezoning effort for Industry City. (Elizabeth Kim for Gothamist)
• A new poll finds New Yorkers would rather Andrew Cuomo drown in a kiddie pool of piss than make a comeback. Okay, maybe they didn't directly poll for that, but the polls show Cuomo has a 2:1 negative favorability, sexually harassed multiple women, and has not been vindicated. (Matt Troutman for Patch)
• Curbed makes the argument to make MTA buses free, following successful pilot programs in Boston and Los Angeles. (Clio Chang for Curbed)
• Remember when the MTA said they wouldn't install platform doors? Well, the MTA is going to test platform doors at three subway stations. Times Square, Third Ave on the L, and Sutphin Blvd will test automatic platform gates. (Jose Martinez with additional report from Farah Javed for The City)
• Twenty restaurants perfect for a meal by yourself. (Diana Hubbell and Ryan Sutton for Eater)
• Citing the delivery workers' risk, pressure, and stress, City Councilmember Christopher Marte announced intentions to outlaw 15-minute delivery apps. (Clint Rainey for Fast Company)
• Attacking from another angle, City Councilmember Gale Brewer is investigating 15-minute delivery apps that have taken over storefronts, looking at zoning requirements for supermarkets, bodegas, and delis, and it turns out their tinted windows and coverings violate transparency laws. (Sarah Beling for W42ST)
• REI employees at the SoHo location will decide whether to form a union during an in-person vote on March 2. REI typically supports unions but doesn't think it's the "right thing" for its employees. What a shock! (Gwynne Hogan for Gothamist)
• "Avoid the Throggs Neck" is good advice in general, but roadwork will resume this weekend on deck replacement, so really, avoid the Throggs Neck. (Norwood News)
• After two years, Una Pizza Napoletana is back on March 3. (Erika Adams for Eater)
• Rowdy Rooster is bringing fast-casual Indian Fried Chicken to First Ave between Ninth and Tenth, from the folks who operate Adda and Dhamaka. (EV Grieve)
• Roll N Roaster changed its french fries, and people are very mad. (Ben Brachfeld for Brooklyn Paper)
• Real Estate Lust: A $3.85 million Greenwich Village penthouse with two floors, two beds, two baths, private roof deck, built-in sound system, central air, home theater with a retractable screen, and more. (Michelle Cohen for 6sqft)
• The Brooklyn Democratic Party's new director was a recently registered Republican? Yup. How recent? Recent enough to retweet Trump, tweeting about Pizzagate, and bash Black Lives Matter. What the hell is going on at the Brooklyn Democratic Party? This is the same org that had a 13-hour Zoom meeting. (George Joseph for The City)
• The city started a pilot program to target and ticket loud cars in a similar fashion to speed cameras using a combination of cameras and sound meters. A first offense carries a $220 ticket. (Matt Troutman for Patch)
• A $10 million class-action suit against CareCube for billing visitors for "free" Covid-19 tests. (Katie Honan for The City)
• Former president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association Ed Mullins turned himself in to federal authorities after the FBI raided his home and office in October, followed by his resignation. His charges are unclear, but it couldn't have happened to a more likable guy who disclosed personal information about the mayor's daughter and called two city officials "bitch" and "first-class whore." (Jake Offenhartz for Gothamist)
• No one asked, but you still tweeted: Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman was suspended from the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia and asked to resign from the New York State Psychiatric Institute after quote tweeting a photo of South Sudanese model Nyakim Gatwech stating “whether a work of art or a freak of nature she’s a beautiful sight to behold.” (Josefa Velasquez for The City)
• Attention farmers: You can apply for a Conditional Adult-use Cannabis Cultivator license, giving you the legal go-ahead to start growing weed. (Melissa Kravitz for Time Out)
• A piece of advice from Ryan Sutton: When at the Hawksmoor in Gramercy, order the cheap steaks and dessert. (Ryan Sutton for Eater)
• How the squares along Broadway got their names. (Walter Murphy for Untapped New York)
• The 14 best smash burgers in the city. (Luke Fortney, Robert Sietsema, and Eater Staff for Eater)
Thank you to readers who contributed to The Briefly using this Ko-Fi link. You’re as great as news about new bike lanes!
Featured Pet: Dexter!
Thank you to reader Mandy for sending in this photo of Dexter! Dexter is two years old and was a semi-feral street cat in Harlem up until three weeks ago. Now he with Mandy and demands pieces of chicken while evading being pet. Dexter was rescued by NYC Animal Rescue Girls, who are doing great work. Mandy says she’s only fostering Dexter, but we all know this is forever. Send your pet and foster photos to thebriefly@gmail.com!
