On Tuesday, the City announced that they were partnering with a Queens non-profit to allow vending to resume at the acclaimed street food market in Corona Plaza, which had been dismantled in raids by City agencies this summer (the sweeps that shut down the original Corona Plaza were first reported by Hell Gate). But the announced provisions for the new Corona Plaza market sound nothing like the Plaza at the heights that had brought it acclaim in the first place—where the market was once home to up to 80 vendors, only 14 vendors at a time will be allowed to return from Wednesdays through Sundays, from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.. What's more, in the beginning of this new regime, only non-food items will be sold, at least until food vendors have acquired Health Department permits.
In the City's statement, they announced that the new Corona Plaza will be run by the Queens Economic Development Corporation, and that "city agencies will monitor and take enforcement action as necessary to keep Corona Plaza safe and clean." Mayor Adams is quoted in the press release as saying the new Corona Plaza plan will "[keep] our neighbors safe, [ensure] our streets are clean, and [create] economic opportunities for local residents." New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodríguez reiterated that the "first-of-its-kind community vending area" will be "safe, clean, and vibrant."
But one vendor told the New York Times that "there is a lot of anger" among the former cooks of Corona Plaza about the new plan. Ana Maldonado, who ran a tamale stand in Corona Plaza that she said provided her family's entire income, told the Times that the partial return "feels like a slap in the face."
15 former members of the Corona Plaza Street Vendors Association have already relocated to other neighborhoods, Rosario Troncoso, the Association's president, told the Times. She's quoted in the City's press release, but admitted to the Times that she was disappointed with how few stalls would be returning. The City has said after a few months, it plans to hand off the plaza to either a new non-profit or extend its agreement with the Queens EDC. “This is just the beginning,” Troncoso said. For what was once an incredibly vital asset to one of the city's poorest neighborhoods, let's hope she's right.
These links are just the beginning:
- Two lawmakers who accompanied then-Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams on trips to Turkey and Azerbaijan disclosed that those trips were bankrolled by government-linked entities. Adams himself made no such disclosure.
- Long live Rice to Riches—the inexplicably resilient rice pudding restaurant in Nolita is expanding its empire.
- Speaking of good eats, a portion of severed human finger was served to a Chop't customer in her arugula. Name checks out!
- A tough break for those who think documentaries are being made too soon after the fact— the Gilgo Beach killer's wife has signed a deal for a docuseries with Peacock.
- Speaking of raids, Briana Suggs, the Adams aide whose home was raided by the FBI a few weeks ago, is moving to another unspecified role in his campaign (rather than fundraising). She's also retained a new lawyer
- The City is adding two new asylum application support centers, while only about 10 percent of those asylum seekers that have been offered tickets out of the city have taken them, meanwhile just 3000 work permits have been issued to migrants by the federal government.
- Melissa DeRosa, a former top-ranking Andrew Cuomo aide, is considering a run for an unspecified office, the Post says. They also call her a "household name," which is a streeeeetch.
- Bay Ridge teacher Robert Rossicone's inflammatory anti-Palestinian social media posts have led to his removal from the classroom.
- The City Council will propose its own budget alternative to the Adams administration's widely-derided cuts.
- Let a thousand "AirBnB alternatives" bloom.
- Will we ever see real snow in NYC again?
- Paste Magazine is buying recently-shuttered blog Jezebel and the less-recently-shuttered blog Splinter.
- Two people got shot on the C train in Brooklyn last night, sustaining minor injuries.
- At least we got to say we paid for Louis Molina's Eurotrip.
- George Santos says he will not be resigning in the face of an expulsion vote by his colleagues in the House.
- And finally, okay, no need to hit a diva while he's down (also, where do they make these?):
