The "Tent Cities By Any Other Name" Edition

Don't rely on fallout shelters, city council redistricting hits a snag, the Brooklyn Democratic Party trips on its own shoes, everyone hates the subways, Goop goops, and more.

Today - Low: 52˚ High: 61˚
Clear throughout the day.
This weekend - Low: 59˚ High: 72˚

Thanks to reader George for sending in today’s featured photo from Times Square. Send in your photos to thebriefly@gmail.com

• The city's Covid-19 vaccine mandates are melting away, despite the seven-day positivity rate holding steady at around 5.5%. The student-athlete mandate has been lifted, and the private sector mandate is set to end on November 1. The municipal employee mandate remains in place for now. Lifting these mandates right around when a new booster is available sends mixed messages. (Ethan Stark-Miller for Brooklyn Paper)

• A rare mayoral veto from Mayor Adams in the Noho/Soho rezoning financially helps the owner of Zero Bond, the private club where the mayor regularly spends his nights. (Christopher Robbins for Gothamist)

• The city put the NYPD in charge of decision-making about homeless encampments, giving them the "final determination regarding which sites will be assigned for cleanup." This replaces a directive from Mayor De Blasio that was targeted at police accountability. (David Brand for City Limits)

• The mayor's latest attempt to live up to the city's legal obligation for asylum seekers, after violating the right to shelter mandate twice, is tent cities called "humanitarian relief centers." Politicians and advocates have spoken out against the new plan. (Josefa Velásquez, Catalina Gonella for Gothamist with contributed reporting from David Cruz)

• Drill rappers were removed from Rolling Loud NYC's lineup at the NYPD's request. Complying with the police is a very cool and hip thing to do. (Amanda Hatfield for BrooklynVegan)

• Beetlejuice on Broadway is closing on January 8, 2023. (Adam Feldman for Time Out)

• You know the fallout shelter signs you see all across the city? Don't rely on them if you need a fallout shelter. The federal government stopped funding the fallout shelter program in the 1970s, and the original shelters were of questionable utility when they were still new. Please let me know if you have one of the old fallout shelter signs, and I'd love to have one. (Jordan Gass-Poore' for Gothamist)

• If you're having a good morning and want to change that, this story about NYC's piss-poor recycling programs will help level you out. (Nick Pinto for Hell Gate)

• The Brooklyn Democratic Party, the dysfunctional immortal shitshow that keeps on shitshowing, held its latest shitshow on Wednesday night this week. The meeting was supposed to start at 7 pm but started at 10 pm, 90 minutes before the lights were turned off, and everyone was sent home with literally nothing accomplished. Good job to everyone involved. You really know how to embarrass yourselves. (Jonathan Custodio and Gorge Joseph for The City)

• Not to be outdone by the Brooklyn Democratic Party, the increased frequency of storms over the last year caused sewer backups to nearly double in the last year, causing some literal shitshows. (Liz Donovan for City Limits)

• The commission responsible for redrawing the city's districts voted against releasing its own maps, which will be in place for the next decade. The time remaining for the work to complete is dwindling, as the commission is supposed to be finished by February 7. (David Cruz for Gothamist)

• This is some bullshit: Erick Adame, an Emmy-nominated meteorologist who worked for NY1, says he was fired after someone sent nude screenshots of him to NY1. The screenshots were taken and sent without Adame's permission, and the firing certainly can be seen as discriminatory. (Matt Tracy for Gay City News)

• If you're unsatisfied with the subway, you're in the majority. In the system, only seven lines have a rating of over 50%, three of which are shuttles, and one is the Staten Island Railway. Of the non-shuttles, the L and G trains have the highest ratings of 53% and 52%, which are still miserable. (Aaron Ginsburg for 6sqft)

• Seven forgotten subway entrances. If they were forgotten, how does this list even exist? Spooky season indeed. (Nicole Saraniero for Untapped New York)

• Goop is one of the state's top delinquent taxpayers. (Matt Troutman for Patch)

• A malfunctioning water tank appears to be at the center of the Schroedinger's arsenic issue at the Jacob Riis Houses. Investigations are still ongoing. (Greg B. Smith for The City)

Sure, walking is a way of life here—we rush to the nearest subway stop, we walk over to the bodega, to the dentist, to school, just about everywhere. But I think we ought to celebrate and cherish the act of walking a bit more, especially right now when the sun is a little less intense the sidewalks aren’t yet coated in slush. Let’s take a moment to savor this city with every step.
-Rossilynne Skena Culgan, Let me tell you—take a walk to discover the best of NYC, part of the "Let Me Tell You" series for Time Out

• Where to Go: S&P (formerly Eisenberg's) What to Order: Tune melt on rye. (Luke Fortney for Eater)

• The city's union for public clerical workers was placed under administratorship by its international union for "serious deficiencies and numerous violations of AFSCME’s Financial Standards Code." Hundreds of thousands of dollars of spending are being called into question. (Reuven Blau and Claudia Izarry Aponte for The City)

• Apartment Porn: A $12.5 million Soho full-floor condo with 4,600 square feet, four beds, three baths, 13-foot ceilings, a private terrace, keyed elevator, and more. (Michelle Cohen for 6sqft)

• The Museum of Ice Cream is transforming itself for Halloween on September 30. The details are scant but if you're looking to fill October with spooky activities, lock it down. (Anna Rahmanan for Time Out)

• The MTA will install two surveillance cameras on all subway cars over the next three years. Governor Hochul says the literal intent is that "Big Brother is watching you on the subways." The cameras will not be monitored and be used to identify suspects after a crime is reported. (Stephen Nessen for Gothamist)

• Jonas Bronck and how the Bronx got its name. (Ephemeral New York)

• Pickleball is coming to Hudson Yards next month. Sure, why not. (Anna Rahmanan for Time Out)

• Ten picks for Ethiopian food in the city. (Mazuba Kapambwe-Mizzi for Eater)

The Most Clicked Links in the Last Edition:

1. 15 uniquely New York habits people pick up after living here

2. NYC Subway Facts from the Most Basic to the Fairly Obscure

3. This NYC restaurant has officially been named best pizzeria in the world

Featured City Pet: The Weasel!

Thank you to Emily for sending in this dating profile pic of The Weasel, one of the sister idiots you’ll see featured in upcoming editions.