The "Secret Diary of John Wilkes Booth" Edition
NYC is the most expensive rental city, the best restaurants in Prospect Heights, free Krispy Kreme doughnuts, no Emmy for Cuomo, Covid-19 school policies, and more
Today - Low: 74˚ High: 89˚
Possible light rain in the evening and overnight.
This weekend - Low: 72˚ High: 79˚
• Sign the petition to save the Grand Prospect Hall. (Change.org)
• RIP Bob Diamond. Diamond is best known for rediscovering the world's oldest subway tunnel underneath Atlantic Avenue and giving tours of it for 30 years. The myths about what was in that tunnel are the stuff of legends. The secret diary of John Wilkes Booth and an abandoned steam locomotive are amongst them. About a decade ago the steam locomotive story was somewhat confirmed to be true. It's people like Bob Diamond that make NYC a magical place to me. (Ben Brachfeld for Brooklyn Paper)
• Congratulations NYC we're officially the most expensive rental market in the country. That THAT San Francisco! The median price for a one-bedroom is $2,810, ahead of San Francisco's $2,800. (Jake Offenhartz for Gothamist)
• The best restaurants in Prospect Heights. (The Infatuation)
• The statue of Marsha P. Johnson in Christopher Park is the first statue in the city to honor a trans person and only the 8th statue of a historical woman in the entire city. This is a situation where you may want to get there to see it quickly, as it was a guerrilla effort to erect the monument and not one spearheaded by the city. (Valentina Di Liscia for Hyperallergic)
• House of Yes is reopening this weekend after being shut down for violating Covid-19 regulations last summer. (Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner for Time Out)
• Here's the latest update on NYC schools' Covid-19 policies for the next schools year including randomly testing unvaccinated students, how quarantining and shutting down classrooms will work, mask mandates, remote instruction, and physical distancing. (Alex Zimmerman, Reema Amin, and Christina Veiga for Chalkbeat)
• A look back at the 1991 Union Square subway crash thirty years later. A drunken train operator and a series of safety failures resulted in a subway car hitting a crossover from the express to local tracks at 40 miles an hour, derailing the train, and resulting in five deaths and hundreds injured. (John Leland for NY Times)
• Brooklyn Based is here to remind you that many of the city's parks were once cemeteries. Some of them still have bodies buried underneath the parks. (Jordan Galloway for Brooklyn Based)
• Real Estate Lust: The "skinny house" in Greenwich Village is for sale for $5 million. Measuring about eight feet wide and three stories tall, the square footage is about 999 square feet, containing three beds, two baths, a rear patio, and a finished basement. (Dana Schulz for 6sqft)
• Metropolitan Correctional Center, the high-security federal jail in Lower Manhattan, will close temporarily. The jail is best known more recently as the place where Jeffrey Epstein killed himself and has a history of poor conditions. (Benjamin Weiser for NY Times)
• Less than a month ago the staff of Fleishers walked out on their jobs after the CEO ordered the removal of Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ+ signs from shop windows. The ex-employees are planning to open their own butcher shop with a more expansive menu. They're currently searching for a location and hope to have it open by the end of the year. (Daniel Karel for Brooklyn Magazine)
• Ten restaurant patios with fans because it’s hot and smelly outside, but so are you. (Nikko Duren for The Infatuation)
• The Times article about how Eric Adams has been spending his time in Martha's Vineyard and the Hamptons raising millions of dollars for the mayoral election, which he would win without any effort at all, has a surprising number of conservative Republicans who are pledging public support for him. (Dana Rubenstein and Emma G. Fitzsimmons for NY Times)
• Where to eat and drink poolside in NYC. (Michael Herrmann for Eater)
• Krispy Kreme was offering a free doughnut to anyone who was vaccinated. That is over because now they are offering TWO free doughnuts a day to anyone who is vaccinated. The offer starts on Monday and is good through September 5 when the offer goes back to one doughnut a day. (Rachel Sugar for Grub Street)
• Why go through the effort of finding ancient antiquities when you can just manufacture fakes? That's what the owner of a Midtown gallery is charged with. Will the fakes be put on police auction for a steep discount? That's what I want to know. (Colin Moynihan for NY Times)
• Now that the state has flushed Cuomo, we're beginning to see a lot of his bullshit going away with him. Among the first items to correct is an increase in the official Covid-19 death tally by 12,000, bringing the state's numbers in line with the federal government. These were cases where there was no official test for Covid-19 but there were signs or symptoms of it. (Gwynne Hogan for Gothamist)
• The CEO of Time's Up, Tina Tchen, resigned on Thursday after her support Andrew Cuomo was made public and telling colleagues to stand down from supporting Lindsay Boylan when she made her accusations against Cuomo. (Jodi Kantor, Arya Sundaram, and Melena Ryzik and NY Times)
• In a move to celebrate, disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo was stripped of his Emmy award. (Gwynne Hogan for Gothamist)
• The best new vegan and vegetarian restaurants. (Nikko Duren for The Infatuation)
• Video: Walking from Times Square to Hell's Kitchen. (ActionKid)
• Here's a solid question: Why are transit spaces so hostile to humans? (Jose Martinez for The City)
• "Where do I take another native NYer to impress them?" (Hannah Albertine for The Infatuation)
• Six tips for attending a Broadway show in the Covid-19 era. (Adam Feldman for Time Out)
• Don't be fooled by the signs outside Martha’s Country Bakery in Forest Hills announcing a closure during construction, it was shut down by the health department for a series of pretty gross violations. (Kayla Levy for Patch)
• 11 great places for outdoor brunch. (Alison Fox for Brooklyn Magazine)
Featured Pet: Angel!
Thank you to Melinda, Bart, and Jervé for sending in this photo of Angel, who was adopted from Ready for Rescue. Angel likes this red suitcase but hates traveling and has been the best quarantine cat.
