We’re halfway through this week, which also happens to be an election week with the 2020 New York Democratic primaries.
Tuesday was the official day for in-person voting, and early voting was open through last Sunday thanks to recent election law reforms. Nearly 80,000 absentee ballots were mailed to NYC voters, which have yet to be tallied. Absentee votes will be counted over the course of the next few weeks, but preliminary vote counts show that Assemblyman Joe Lentol leads Emily Gallagher 57% to 42%, while Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney leads second time challenger Suraj Patel by a a thin margin of less than 700 votes.
New York City’s eight public beaches will be open for swimming beginning July 1st, Mayor de Blasio announced on Tuesday. Parks ambassadors will be on hand at city beaches to promote social distancing while distributing masks.
The city’s Open Streets initiative introduced another round of 23 miles of streets to be added to the vehicle-free list including Driggs Avenue from Monitor Street to Meeker Avenue. This brings the current citywide total to 67 miles of open streets, a goal to reach 100 miles was announced in April.
In another city announcement, alternate side parking and street sweeping on residential side streets will take place only once per week beginning June 29th.
For more news catch up on the headlines from the neighborhood this week so far:
- Bedford Cheese Shop is now closed on Bedford Avenue but the Manhattan location remains open. (Greenpointers)
- Mike’s Hot Honey is now offering free dip cups for pizzerias. (Greenpointers)
- Meet Linda Minucci, a native Greenpointer who is up for reelection, holding onto her seat for decades. (Greenpointers)
- Blue Hill Farms is expanding its pickup area to include Greenpoint. (Greenpointers)
- The Under the K Bridge Park will open in July. (Brooklyn Eagle)
- Levain Bakery’s first Brooklyn location will open on N 4 Street in Williamsburg July 1st. (Greenpointers)
- A 30-year-old man was shot and killed outside of Williamsburg Houses on Tuesday. (NY Post)
- Dog owners want to see the reopening of dog parks and dog runs. (amNY)
- Could an East River bridge for pedestrians and cyclists work? (NY Times)
- MTA’s extensive planned upgrades are now frozen indefinitely due to financial fallout from coronavirus (THE CITY)
- Vistors to NY from coronavirus hotspot states will now have to self quarantine. (NY1)