Hear from an author and map designer who has been creating maps of the NYC subway, officially and unofficially, for over forty years!
A new street art hotspot has some unconventional holiday decorations!
From giant menorah lightings to New Year's Day hikes, check out our picks for how to spend the holidays in NYC!
Mayor Bill de Blasio said yesterday he will make a decision on whether New Yorkers will need to “shelter in place” like in California by Thursday. A text message system was tested yesterday at 6 PM, to be activated in case shelter in place is enacted.
Governor Cuomo says the expected peak of the coronavirus is about 45 days. In a press announcement he said, “hat can be plus or minus depending on what we do. They are expecting as many as 55,000 to 110,000 hospital beds will be needed at that point. That my friends is the problem that we have been talking about since we began this exercise. You take the 55,000 to 110,000 hospital beds and compare it to a capacity of 53,000 beds and you understand the challenge.”
As of the latest update on the New York State Department of Health website, there are 1374 positive cases in New York State (up 424 from the day before). 644 are in New York City. Although Bill De Blasio and council members are citing a number of 923 for New York City. Councilman Mark D. Levine tweets, “That is a 99% increase in a *single day*. What we’re doing is not enough. Still far too many people in public. Our hospitals are about to be overrun. We need to enact a “shelter in place” order immediately–today.”
We’ve been following the news on cases among the ranks of first responders: the latest, an NYPD officer has tested positive, and numerous of his colleagues are ill (reports vary between 17 and 30). 30 MTA employees from the Long Island City office are self-quarantining following “potential positive” case).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmWan7bGk5w
In more uplifting news, we learned from Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer that Frederick Douglass Houses and NYCHA resident Samantha (Sam) Diaz, age 20, who cut her teeth singing in the New York City subway appeared on American Idol last night. Watch it here. She brought her lucky money box she uses on the subway to the stage. Have to admit, we got a welling up of emotion watching her perform.
NYC Council Member Ritchie Torres from District 15 in the Bronx has tested positive. He was last at City Hall on March 10th. Council speaker Corey Johnson released a statement that council members have been informed, their staff alerted, and the Council is working on notifying those the councilman may have been in contact with. Extra cleaning is taking place in City Hall all week, with additional measures taken following the diagnosis.
Something to do while we’re all waiting this out: you can fill out the 2020 Census online.
We started seeing tweets from New Yorkers about alternate side parking last week and yesterday, it was finally suspended for the next week seemingly one of the last things in New York City to be cancelled. NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson said he was “flabbergasted” it had not been suspended, but Mayor de Blasio said alternate side parking “was there for a reason — it’s because that is what allows the street sweepers to keep our neighborhoods clean. I am worried about a city in the middle of an epidemic that gets less and less clean. That’s not a good public health practice.” Nonetheless, suspensions were announced yesterday to last, initially, for seven days.
Ride shares like Uber Pool, Via, and shared Lyft rides have been suspended per mandate by Mayor de Blasio. Via has moved to all private rides (which are 20% off). Obviously, it’s still best not to be moving around if possible. Uber has a message to tell people only to take trips on its platform “if this trip is essential.” Lyft has a similar message, asking riders to help keep the community healthy and “only travel if you must.” The new ride app Myle however, sent out an email message on Monday to those that riders could “get around during Coronavirus outbreak safer & cheaper,” which even two days ago seemed a little tone deaf and irresponsible.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin went to Congress to ask for a swift passage of a $1 trillion plan to stimulate the economy, including $250 billion in checks directly to the American people targeted to be sent by the end of April.
How NYC Survived the 1918 “Spanish” Flu Pandemic and The 12 Largest Parks in NYC (get outside before shelter in place is enacted!)
Yesterday, our founder Michelle Young continued her daily cello recordings with Meditation by from the opera Thäis by Jules Massenet, which you can find on her Instagram and Twitter.
Please stay safe, readers. We are thinking of you. If you are able, you can support Untapped New York through these challenging times by reading and sharing our content, and dream about future tours by getting a gift card!
Please reach out to us with any questions, comments, or ideas — we’ve heard from many of you directly and the messages have been very heartening. The best way to reach us is through email, as our customer service phone line has been inundated. For questions about tours, contact tours@untappedcities.com. For questions regarding our Insiders member events, you can email insiders@untappedcities.com. For editorial and general comments and questions, email info@untappedcities.com.
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