The "Polluted Waters or Sharks. Pick One." Edition
The "Polluted Waters or Sharks. Pick One." Edition
Another primary, the MTA faces a financial cliff, the best Caesar wrap, average rent in Manhattan hits an absurd number, a one million dollar jewelry heist, and more
Today - Low: 73˚ High: 85˚
Mostly cloudy throughout the day.
Welcome back to The Briefly! A few stories broke and continued to develop during my break, like the school’s budgets and the fight over local law 11, so I’ll be catching up with those stories over time. Bear with me!
• The city petitioned the state Supreme Court to “vacate” a temporary restraining order in a lawsuit against school budget reductions granted by a judge last week. A few stories that unfolded during my break are confusing, and this is definitely towards the top of the list. (Jessica Gould for Gothamist)
• The City dug into Elizabeth Crowley's donors, and despite pledging not to take money from big real estate developers, she's taken money from lots of real estate developers and landlords. She's going up against Kristin Gonzalez in the Democratic primary for State Senate District 17. (George Joseph for The City)
• Yup! There's another primary on August 23. Write it down. No excuses. Only 12% of eligible voters participated in the June primaries. (Brigid Bergin for Gothamist)
• The city is fighting to keep local law 11 on the books, which extends voting rights to certain noncitizens. A judge in Staten Island ruled the law violates the state constitution and state election law after the City Council voted it into law in January. (Brigid Bergin for Gothamist)
• Bishop Lamor Whitehead was robbed at gunpoint during a streaming sermon of over one million dollars of jewelry. How is it possible for someone to wear over a million dollars of jewelry? That question is getting more attention than the robbery, and it's a valid question. If the name is familiar, it's because he showed up in a Rolls Royce and failed to negotiate the surrender of subway slaying suspect Andrew Abdullah back in May. (Catalina Gonella for Gothamist)
• If the mayor kills the Third Party Transfer program, it's likely because the city is facing a federal class-action lawsuit from Black and Hispanic property owners that could cost the city millions of dollars. He’ll champion it as a win for inequality, so keep an eye on that. (Stephen Witt and Alexandra O’Connor for Brooklyn Paper)
• Twenty million oysters were deposited into the Hudson River as part of the Billion Oyster Project's efforts to clean the city's waterways. (Anna Rahmanan for Time Out)
• The dolphin in Bushwick Inlet Park didn't appear to be so lucky, as it appears to have washed up dead on the shore. (Emma Davey for Greenpointers)
• A shark sighting closed down Rockaway Beach on Saturday. During a heatwave. This is what happens when we clean our waterways! Now we have to learn to share with nature. (Michelle Bocanegra for Gothamist)
• Governor Hochul wants to increase the lifeguards on the beach by 25%, which will be pretty difficult since the city can't hire enough lifeguards to start with. The target is 1,400, but only 850 have been hired. (Katie Honan for The City)
• I want to make some kind of connection between lifeguards and Union Pool, but I'm feeling lazy, so instead, I'll just say Union Pool is still closed after the fire on July 1 that started in the next building over. (Bill Pearis for BrooklynVegan)
• If you want Papaya King on the Upper East Side, get it before it's demolished. The closing date is unknown. (Emily Lang for Gothamist)
• “Barkley L. Hendricks: Portraits at the Frick” is the first-ever solo show for an artist of color at the Frick Madison. It only took 87 years. (Anna Rahmanan for Time Out)
• In search of the city's best chicken Caesar wrap. (Tammie Teclemariam for Grub Street)
• The NYPD is allegedly threatening people who report them for illegally parking in bike lanes. If this sounds like a repeat story, it's not. It's just another peek at the rampant nonchalant corruption of the NYPD. (Julianne Cuba for Streetsblog)
• If you've noticed the anti-gun ads on the Lower East Side bus shelters, it's the work of artist Winston Tseng, whose fake ads have made headlines before. (Elie Z. Perler for Bowery Boogie)
• Attention olds and hipsters: Rockaway Beach has a pickleball court. (Anna Rahmanan for Time Out)
• The weed merchants of Washington Square. (Victoria Bekiempis for Curbed)
• The MTA doesn't expect pre-pandemic ridership levels until at least 2035, but they're on pace to lose $4 billion through 2026. We're headed for a decade of fare hikes, service cuts, and layoffs at the exact moment when it needs to build our confidence back. (Dave Colon for Streetsblog)
• A vacation-themed rooftop bar in Bushwick because there are new WHO emergencies more often than the Olympics, so we’ll never vacation again. (Melissa Kravitz-Hoeffner for Time Out)
• Average rent in Manhattan hit $5,000. (Matt Troutman for Patch)
• Critic Robert Sietsema's 18 favorite pizza slices, unranked. A few entries off the well-tread path. (Robert Sietsema for Eater)