The "State of Emergency 2: Electric Boogaloo" Edition
The "State of Emergency 2: Electric Boogaloo" Edition
The highest paid city employees, the omicron variant, Andrew Cuomo's sycophants, the best Vietnamese restaurants, and more
Today - Low: 39˚ High: 41˚
Overcast throughout the day.
The latest Covid-19 positivity rate is 1.9% (Source: The City’s Coronavirus tracker)
• The city updated the indoor mask mandate in light of the discovery of the omicron variant of Covid-19. The new mandate suggests that everyone, regardless of vaccination status or diagnosis, wear masks indoors. In the same breath, the mayor noted that the current system in place with restaurants isn't changing. (Luke Fortney for Eater)
• A state of emergency was declared by Governor Hochul in preparation for New York's first omicron case. (Devin Gannon for 6sqft)
• Of 8,200 complaints to 311 of blocked bike lanes, the NYPD says they issued 109 tickets. The problem with that number is that the NYPD appears to be lying. Public data doesn't support that number, according to Streetsblog, and the real number is much lower, supporting the theory that the NYPD doesn't care about illegal parking. (Jesse Coburn for Streetsblog)
• Meet the city's highest-paid employee: The executive who manages NYCHA was paid $515,000 in 2020. The second-highest-paid employee is the NYCHA's chairperson. Nearly a million dollars going to the top two people in NYCHA. (Greg B. Smith for The City)
• You don't have to look very hard to find the consequences of NYCHA's lies. Tens of thousands of apartments declared "lead-free" have been found to be contaminated in testing done since 2018. (Greg B. Smith for The City)
• Paperboy Love Prince is running for Congress in 11 different districts. Turns out there's no rule that says you have to live in the district you're running for. (Valeria Ricciulli for Curbed)
• Here are the neighborhoods where you're most likely to get a parking ticket: Kips Bay, Pelham Bay, Battery Park, Laurelton, the Navy Yard, Ozone Park, and Downtown Brooklyn. The results are based on a study of 1.2 million tickets given out in NYC. (Anna Rahmanan for Time Out)
• Everything is everything. Pizza, danish, croissant, bone marrow, and more. In search of everything seasoned like an everything bagel. (Robert Sietsema for Eater)
• The NYPL's list of the best books of 2021. (Devin Gannon for 6sqft)
• Someone stole the Penis Man from Nightmoves. Do you want context? Sorry, that's all I'll give you on this one. (Rachel Sugar for Grub Street)
• Bar None on Third between 12th and 13th was seized for nonpayment of state taxes. (EV Grieve)
• A deep look at the sycophants and sociopaths who helped Andrew Cuomo attempt to smear his accusers, according to over 10,000 pages of interviews, emails, and texts released by the attorney general's office. (Josefa Velasquez for The City)
• Van Leeuwen continues to operate as a cashless business after already receiving fines for violating the city's cashless ban. The $12,750 in violations already accrued haven't been paid. (Emma Orlow for Eater)
• 5 things to consider before moving to a new NYC neighborhood Top of my list was always "Where can I get a good bagel?," which doesn't make the list. (Austin Havens-Bowen for Brick Underground)
• 32 outstanding Vietnamese restaurants. (Robert Sietsema for Eater)
Featured Pet: Zilla the Killa!
Thank you to reader Yasha for sending in this photo of Zilla the Killa, the Maine Coon from Astoria!
It is once again time for me to ask you to send me photos of your pets!
Thank you so much to the four people who sent contributions since the last edition to The Briefly using the Ko-Fi link in the footer on the email. Encouragement like this is leading to a big change in The Briefly in 2022! What is it? You’ll have to wait to find out.