The "Sad Protest Inside a Burger King" Edition
The "Sad Protest Inside a Burger King" Edition
Eric Adams’s weird choices, how de Blasio changed the city, 30 spots for delivery under $20, where to celebrate NYE, 2022 in schools, the flu returns, and more.
Today - Low: 49˚ High: 52˚
Possible light rain overnight.
This weekend - Low: 31˚ High: 60˚
The latest seven-day positivity rate: 23.47%
72.28% of city residents have received two shots, 81.32% of city residents have received more than one shot. Source: NYC Department of Health.
• One portion of the private sector vaccine mandate, which Mayor-elect Eric Adams intends to leave in place, extends to hiring babysitters, housekeepers, plumbers, etc. in private residences. If you hire someone to work in your home, you’re the overseer of a workplace, and with a $1,000 fine if you don’t check proof of vaccination. (Jake Offenhartz for Gothamist)
• You know that mattress that Eric Adams kept in his Borough President’s office? Well, it turns out it was a loaner from a staff member that he intends to return. (Christopher Bonanos for Curbed)
• Kathleen Culliton (congrats on the new gig) runs down Mayor-elect Eric Adams’s long history of making weird choices. The rat-death bucket is, of course, on this list. (Kathleen Culliton for Patch)
• Interview: Outgoing School Chancellor Meisha Porter on getting kids into schools during the pandemic, keeping kids in schools during the pandemic, and why kids need to stay in schools. (Lola Fadulu for NY Times)
• NYC schools’ plan to stay open coming January? Testing, testing testing. Schools will send rapid tests home with exposed students, test vaccinated and unvaccinated students, test 20% of all students weekly, and asymptomatic students will not need to quarantine. (Amy Zimmer for Chalkbeat)
• We’re going into 2022 by setting new records for most Covid-19 cases reported nearly every single day in the last two weeks. (Luke Parsnow for NY1)
• Remember when we nearly eradicated the flu last year by following Covid protocols? Well, the flu is back this year, with cases in NYC looking like they’ll be pre-pandemic active. (Kathleen Culliton for Patch)
• Five more dunces were arrested while protesting vaccination mandates in a Downtown Brooklyn Burger King. Burger King seems like the saddest place for this kind of protest for everyone involved. (Kirstyn Brendlen for amNY Metro)
• The state is not intervening to shut down elective surgeries in the city, despite exceeding the threshold of four Covid-19 patients per 100,000 population for seven days straight. The number was nearly 5.5 at the start of last week, with some hospitals in the city reporting under 10% bed availability, which is supposed to be considered the “danger zone.” Why bother putting thresholds in place if there is no action when we pass them? (Greg B. Smith with additional reporting by Reuven Blau for The City)
• Ten secrets of the NYE ball drop in Times Square. (Untapped New York)
• Photos: The Times Square ball takes its place. (Scott Lynch for Gothamist)
• Six ways to celebrate the new year. (the skint)
• Stepping inside Bianco Latte in North Williamsburg, the new bakery from two-time “Best Pastry Chef in Italy” award-winner Andrea Zanin. (Jennifer Rosini-Gentile for Greenpointers)
• A look at how the de Blasio era changed New York City physically. (Rachel Holliday Smith for The City)
• Real Estate Lust: A $4.6 million pre-war classic six on the Upper East Side, with a wood-burning fireplace, wet bar in the dining room, a sheltered terrace, a Juliette balcony in the main bedroom, and more. (Michelle Cohen for 6sqft)
• 15 great places for afternoon tea. (Lynn Lieberman for Untapped New York)
• 199 streets were given honorific names with the City Council’s last vote of the year. How do you get a street named in someone’s honor? Go to your community board. (Danny Lewis for Gothamist)
• 30 spots to get delivery for under $20. (The Infatuation)
Featured Pet: Ramona!
Thank you to reader Amy for sending in this photo of Ramona. Ramona’s likes include warm radiators, minimal petting, dry food. She was found outside at Christmas time seven years ago, huddled under Christmas lights someone had in a tree in their front yard, trying to stay warm.
Thank you to the three readers who contributed to The Briefly using this Ko-Fi link. Your contributions are incredibly generous, and I can’t thank you enough.