The "You Can Watch but You Can't Play" Edition

Mask mandates are ending next month, the city and state cut their ties to Russia, the mayor's plan to remove the homeless from the subways is a mess, the secrets of Elhurst, and more.

Today - Low: 36˚ High: 44˚
Overcast throughout the day.

pssst! It’s time to send me more pet photos!

The latest seven-day positivity rate: 1.99%
76.9% of city residents have received two shots, 85.99% of city residents have received one or more shots. Source: NYC Department of Health.

Do you find this information helpful? Let me know. I’m thinking of removing it when the mask and Key2NYC vaccine mandates end.

Thanks to reader George, who knows he sends in many photos of the ESB, but loves the view from his office for this shot of the Empire State Building. Send your pictures of the Empire State Building or anything else in NYC to thebriefly@gmail.com

• New York State is cutting all business ties with Russian entities after an executive order from Governor Hochul on Sunday. (Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner for Time Out)

• City Comptroller Brad Lander wants the city to divest the city's pension system from any assets linked to Vladamir Putin. The city's pension plans are worth over $270 billion, with Russian assets worth about $271 million. (Sophia Chang for Gothamist)

• KGB Bar no longer sells Russian alcohol, including Russia's Baltika Beer, replacing it with Ukrainian-made Obolon beer. (Elie Perler for Bowery Boogie)

• A look at how Little Ukraine is showing its support. (Melizza Kravitz Hoeffner for Time Out)

• The state's school mask mandate will end on March 2. (NY1)

• The city's mask mandate will be lifted on March 7, provided there are no unforeseen spikes in cases. (Jen Chung for Gothamist)

• The Key2NYC vaccine mandate is coming to a close on March 7, meaning no vaccine mandates for indoor dining or activities. (Erika Adams for Eater)

• If you want a good laugh, Kyrie Irving still won't be able to play home games with the Nets because the city's private business vaccine mandate still covers sports teams. (Christian Arnold for The Brooklyn Game)

• Not everyone is thrilled about the planned dropping of the mandates. The Times asks if it's too soon. (Emma G. Fitzsimmons, Sharon Otterman, and Nicole Hong for NY Times)

• New York State subsidizes horse racing tracks with $230 million from video slot revenues, which seems unfair? Edie Falco was the face of a recent call to end these subsidies, including Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, who has a pending bill to redirect the money to schools and human services. The total state subsidy amount for horse racing is $2.9 billion annually. (Matt Troutman for Patch)

• Mayor Adams's plan to remove homeless New Yorkers from the subway is already a mess. As witnessed by The City reporters witnessed NYPD officers in a near-altercation with two homeless women. They indeed removed the homeless woman from the subway, but to what end? An officer involved in the incident claims they were given no instructions aside from "Just get them out." The city has provided no details on how many people were transported to hospitals for psychiatric observation. (Greg B. Smith for The City with additional reporting by Jose Martinez)

• Have you filed a 311 complaint about noisy sex from a neighbor? Hundreds of New Yorkers did. (Kathleen Culliton for Patch)

• The eight best places to thrift for home goods. (Emilie Murphy for 6sqft)

• There are three new sculptures by Jim Rennert on West 47th Street and Sixth Avenue, depicting everyday people's "daily struggles and achievements." The installations are between six and twelve feet tall and will be displayed through 2023. The recent focus on the lack of statues of women throughout the city makes me look at these three and notice that they all appear to be men. (Anna Rahmanan for Time Out)

• Ten secrets of Elmhurst, Queens. (Gabriel Neves for Untapped Cities)

• State Senator Andrew Gounardes and Assemblymember Pat Fahy are proposing an ammo production tax to fund gun violence research. (Nick Reisman for NY1)

• Tarz Youngblood is the first person to die in custody on Rikers Island in 2022. He was found unresponsive in his cell, and his death remains under investigation. (Jake Offenhartz for Gothamist)

• The Democratic June primary for the 75th Assembly District in Manhattan is heating up. (Juan Manuel Benitez for NY1)

• Rockefeller Center is hosting a sleepover in the Top of the Rock Observatory on March 8 with an eight-hour ambient music performance on the spring equinox. (Shaye Weaver for Time Out)

• Okka, a new Turkish coffee shop and cafe in Greenpoint, is now open. (Jennifer Rosini-Gentile for Greenpointers)

• 18 cozy, comforting hot pot spots. (Caroline Shin and Eater Staff for Eater)

Featured Pet: Chimichanga!

Thank you to reader Dereken for sending in this shot of Chimichanga!

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