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Booze, Biscuits and Bands: Musical Brunch Is Back in New York

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Booze, Biscuits and Bands: Musical Brunch Is Back in New York

The room was full of tipsy get together individuals when the drag queen Ginger Snap abruptly grabbed my wrist and planted my hand on her proper falsy — and with exhilarated eyes gave me a glance that passionately purred: Brunch is again, woman.

That’s how I kicked off a day at Broadway Drag Brunch, one in every of a number of live-entertainment brunches that, after an extended pause attributable to coronavirus restrictions, are feeding music-loving and hungry patrons in New York, the place brunch is church.

A few of these brunches are like intimate concert events with music as an atmospheric backdrop. At others, the star of the present is the present itself — with performers encouraging hands-in-the-air singalongs and servers nudging you to order pitchers of bottomless cocktails to drink with the prix fixe omelets and pancakes. The music ranges from boy-band ballads to sit back jazz and lonesome bluegrass, and the areas embody a below-ground membership and an idyllic waterfront.

Listed below are six weekend musical brunches that — barring coronavirus restrictions — will quench your thirst for tunes and toe-tapping to go together with your booze and biscuits.

Candy seduction is on the menu at Boy Band Brunch, held each different Sunday afternoon at one in every of New York’s new children on the block: Chelsea Desk + Stage, a efficiency venue that opened in September contained in the Hilton New York Style District resort. It stars the Boy Band Venture, a flirty quartet with members who belt, dance, thrust their pelvises and sing the “Please don’t go, woman” musical repertoires of ’NSync, Boyz II Males and different crush-inducing boy bands of the Nineties and 2000s.

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The forged rotates, however at a current efficiency, the bandmates have been performed by Chris Messina (the sporty one), Sam Harvey (the not-that-bad boy), Christopher Brasfield (the boy subsequent door) and Nic Metcalf (the delicate one). The tables have been stuffed with principally millennials and Gen Xers brunching on smoked salmon avocado toast and singing together with each lyric, as if Justin Timberlake himself have been on one knee pleading for his or her affections.

If the vibe appears like Backstreet Boys meets Broadway, it’s no marvel: The Boy Band Venture was created by Travis Nesbitt, a former forged member of “Altar Boyz,” a musical satire of a Christian boy band that had successful Off Broadway run within the 2000s. (chelseatableandstage.com)

Eye-popping Hudson Valley vistas accompany the vamps at Sunday Jazz Brunch at Cove Fort, a lakeside restaurant in Greenwood Lake, N.Y. Positioned a few 45-minute drive from the George Washington Bridge (or a 10-minute drive from the Metro-North station in Tuxedo, N.Y.), the city doesn’t have the identical weekend bustle and creative cache as close by Beacon or Hudson. However that’s a draw for brunchers, particularly those that pull up of their boats to dock and dine in an 80-seat room with sweeping views of Greenwood Lake, in addition to the hills and woodlands of Sterling Forest State Park.

Together with Cove Fort, the Sunday brunch is hosted by the Hudson Valley Jazz Competition, which helps program the principally native bands. The menu is brunch consolation meals, together with challah French toast and a trio of sausages served with Brazilian cheese bread. (covecastleny.com)

Latin and Cuban are the musical types you’re more likely to hear throughout jazz brunch at 1803, a nook restaurant in TriBeCa. Named for the yr of the Louisiana Buy, the New Orleans-inspired venue contains a rotating schedule of native ensembles. On a current Saturday, a jazz trio — Eduardo Belo on bass, Rogério Boccato on drums and Vinicius Gomes on guitar — made the ethereal two-story eating room really feel just like the French Quarter by the use of São Paulo, Brazil.

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The menu is heavy on bayou fare, together with a crawfish-cake benedict, gumbo and jambalaya (a vegan choice is made with a crispy tofu); and Southern favorites like hen and waffles and a rosemary-forward macaroni and cheese. (1803nyc.com)

Brunches with honest-to-goodness reside nation music are scarce in New York, and that absolutely makes nation followers madder than a cat getting baptized.

Filling that void is Spaghetti Tavern, an Higher West Aspect bar and restaurant that hosts bluegrass brunches on the weekends. Final Sunday, it was as if the 65-seat eating room have been nestled within the Blue Ridge Mountains, because of Pickin’ Parm, a quartet made up of Kris Bauman (banjo), Ross Martin (guitar), Kells Nollenberger (bass) and Cesar Moreno (mandolin). “It is a tune about choosing up farm ladies,” Moreno introduced with a smile, to which diners responded with applause and a “yeehaw!” It was a cool spring day so the doorways have been open, giving passers-by a style of honky-tonk.

The menu options conventional brunch fare with Italian twists, together with a spaghetti frittata wedge and baked cannellini beans and eggs. However the home specialty is Spaghetti in a Bag: pasta tossed in a sauce (decide amongst pesto, cacio e pepe and others) and served piping sizzling in an outsized parchment satchel. The bottomless mimosas are available in a cute refillable ceramic donkey, as a result of why not. (spaghettitavern.com)

Annie, Effie, Mimi: No Broadway diva is protected from sendup on the R-rated Broadway Drag Brunch, a raucous meal-and-a-show that performs twice on Sundays at Lips, a long-running drag club-restaurant that now lives on a quiet stretch of Midtown East, the place it moved in 2010 after greater than a dozen years at its authentic house within the West Village.

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On a current afternoon, it was principally younger girls within the viewers, together with brides-to-be and birthday revelers who, at one level within the present, lined as much as sit on a throne and take a photograph with the sharp-tongued Ginger Snap. (“I scent Lengthy Island Railroad,” Miss Snap advised one desk.) The forged of drag queens lip-synced to numbers from Broadway musicals together with “Dreamgirls,” “Lease” and “Jekyll & Hyde,” however the crowd turned essentially the most labored up when the D.J. reduce present tunes with pop hits.

The is the one brunch on this listing that doesn’t embody reside music and singing, however give a queen a break: The performers double as servers (and work exhausting for suggestions). Thirty {dollars} will get you a musical-themed entree, just like the Sweeney Todd steak and eggs, or the Mamma Mia mozzarella omelet — and a bloody mary or mimosa. Add $6 and the cocktails are limitless. (nycdragshow.com)

Paul and Ringo meet pizza and ratatouille each Sunday for the nostalgic Strawberry Fields: Final Beatles Brunch. The meal-meets-concert had an 18-year run on the former B.B. King Blues Membership & Grill in Occasions Sq.; it’s now a weekend staple at Metropolis Vineyard’s 32,000-square-foot venue, which opened in October 2020 and overlooks the Hudson River at Pier 57 on Manhattan’s West Aspect. The present options classic instrumentation and amplification of songs from the Beatles catalog sung by costumed forged members, lots of whom carried out with the Broadway and touring firms of the long-running musical “Beatlemania.”

The $55 ticket consists of the present and a limiteless breakfast buffet; bottomless drink packages are additionally obtainable. It’s a good way to introduce kids underneath 12 to the Fab 4: They get in for free of charge, with brunch meals obtainable for buy. (citywinery.com)

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New York

Senator Menendez’s Resignation Letter

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Senator Menendez’s Resignation Letter

ROBERT MENENDEZ
NEW JERSEY
COMMITTEES:
BANKING, HOUSING, AND URBAN
AFFAIRS
FINANCE
FOREIGN RELATIONS
The Honorable Phil Murphy
Governor of New Jersey
Office of the Governor
Trenton, N.J. 08625
Dear Governor Murphy,
United States Senate
WASHINGTON, DC 20510-3005
July 23, 2024
528 SENATE HART OFFICE BUILDING
WASHINGTON, DC 20510
(202) 224-4744
210 HUDSON STREET
HARBORSIDE 3, SUITE #1000
JERSEY CITY, NJ 07311
(973) 645-3030
208 WHITE HORSE PIKE
SUITE 18-19
BARRINGTON, NJ 08007
(856) 757-5353
This is to advise you that I will be resigning from my office as the United States Senator from
New Jersey, effective on the close of business on August 20, 2024.
This will give time for my staff to transition to other possibilities, transfer constituent files that
are pending, allow for an orderly process to choose an interim replacement, and for me to close
out my Senate affairs.
While I fully intend to appeal the jury’s verdict, all the way and including to the Supreme Court,
I do not want the Senate to be involved in a lengthy process that will detract from its important
work. Furthermore, I cannot preserve my rights upon a successful appeal, because factual matters
before the ethics committee are not privileged. This is evidenced by the Committee’s Staff
Director and Chief Counsel being called to testify at my trial.
I am proud of the many accomplishments I’ve had on behalf of New Jersey, such as leading the
federal effort for Superstorm Sandy recovery, preserving and funding Gateway and leading the
federal efforts to help save our hospitals, State and municipalities, as well as New Jersey families
through a once in a century COVID pandemic. These successes led you, Governor, to call me the
“Indispensable Senator.”
I thank the citizens of New Jersey for the extraordinary privilege of representing them in the
United States Senate.
Sincerely,
Pabet Menang.
Robert Menendez
United States Senator
New Jersey
cc: The Honorable Kamala Harris, President of the Senate
The Honorable Ann Berry, Secretary of the Senate

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New York

How Well Do You Know Literary Brooklyn?

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How Well Do You Know Literary Brooklyn?

A strong sense of place can deeply influence a story, and in some cases, the setting can even feel like a character itself. This week’s literary geography quiz celebrates Brooklyn and novels set around the bustling borough. To play, just make your selection in the multiple-choice list and the correct answer will be revealed. Links to the books will be listed at the end of the quiz if you’d like to do further reading.

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New York

See How Your Subway Service May Suffer Without Congestion Pricing

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See How Your Subway Service May Suffer Without Congestion Pricing

After Gov. Kathy Hochul halted New York City’s congestion pricing program last month, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority cut $16.5 billion worth of planned upgrades to the city’s vast transit network, mostly to account for the loss of funding that was tied to revenue from the toll.

The impact of the congestion pricing suspension on the M.T.A.’s funds for capital projects

Source: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

Notes: The chart shows the $28.5 billion in uncommitted funds in the M.T.A.’s 2020-24 capital program; an additional $27 billion had already been committed.

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Projects were cut from each part of New York City’s transit system, which is the largest in North America and is used by millions of people every day. The projects included elevator and ramp installations that would make subway stations accessible for people with disabilities, structural repairs to aging infrastructure and upgrades to 1930s-era signals that regularly cause delays.

Here are some of the subway projects the authority says it has shelved:

The cuts announced by the M.T.A. — the state agency that runs the subway, bus and commuter rail lines — will also affect transit outside the subway system. The authority has postponed the purchase of more than 250 electric buses and charging infrastructure at bus depots, as well as upgrades to regional rails and a ramp reconstruction on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.

The $12 billion remaining in the M.T.A.’s capital funds will be spent on projects the authority considers the most urgent, like track replacements and repairs to power substations. It will also replace some of the “least reliable” subway and railway cars, the authority said in a report.

All told, there are 92 subway stations that will not get planned improvements, including 22 stations that will not get new elevators or ramps; 10 that will not get upgrades like structural repairs, platform replacements and new barriers between platforms and tracks; and 71 that will not get upgrades to their public announcement systems.

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Below is a list of the subway stations where upgrades have been put on hold, based on what the M.T.A. has detailed so far:

Projects on hold at 41 stations in Brooklyn:

Union St R

  • upgrade to public announcement system

4 Av-9 St R

  • upgrade to public announcement system

36 St D N R

  • upgrade to public announcement system

59 St N R

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Bergen St F G

  • upgrade to public announcement system

15 St-Prospect Park F G

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Church Av F G

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Avenue X F

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Neptune Av F

  • upgrade to public announcement system
  • elevator or ramp installation
  • platform or waiting area replacement

Jay St-MetroTech A C F

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts A C G

  • upgrade to public announcement system
  • elevator or ramp installation

Franklin Av C

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Nostrand Av A C

  • upgrade to public announcement system
  • elevator or ramp installation

Utica Av A C

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Euclid Av A C

  • upgrade to public announcement system

7 Av B Q

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Kings Hwy B Q

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Avenue U Q

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Neck Rd Q

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Sheepshead Bay B Q

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Brighton Beach B Q

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Ocean Pkwy Q

  • upgrade to public announcement system

W 8 St-NY Aquarium F Q

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Jefferson St L

  • elevator or ramp installation

Nevins St 2 3 4 5

  • platform or waiting area replacement

Crescent St J Z

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Norwood Av J Z

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Cleveland St J

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Van Siclen Av J Z

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Alabama Av J

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Chauncey St J Z

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Halsey St J

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Gates Av J Z

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Kosciuszko St J

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Myrtle Av J M Z

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Flushing Av J M

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Lorimer St J M

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Hewes St J M

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Marcy Av J M Z

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Kings Hwy N

  • elevator or ramp installation

18 Av D

  • elevator or ramp installation

Projects on hold at 9 stations in the Bronx:

Norwood-205 St D

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  • upgrade to public announcement system

Bedford Park Blvd B D

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Kingsbridge Rd B D

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Fordham Rd B D

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Tremont Av B D

  • upgrade to public announcement system

161 St-Yankee Stadium B D

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Wakefield-241 St 2

  • elevator or ramp installation

Brook Av 6

  • elevator or ramp installation
  • repairs for structural or aesthetic issues

3 Av-138 St 6

  • elevator or ramp installation
  • repairs for structural or aesthetic issues

Projects on hold at 27 stations in Manhattan:

Roosevelt Island F

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Lexington Av/63 St F Q

  • upgrade to public announcement system

47-50 Sts-Rockefeller Ctr B D F M

  • upgrade to public announcement system

42 St-Bryant Pk B D F M

  • upgrade to public announcement system
  • elevator or ramp installation

34 St-Herald Sq B D F M

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Broadway-Lafayette St B D F M

  • upgrade to public announcement system

2 Av F

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Delancey St-Essex St F

  • upgrade to public announcement system
  • elevator or ramp installation

East Broadway F

  • upgrade to public announcement system

190 St A

  • repairs for structural or aesthetic issues

145 St A C B D

  • elevator or ramp installation

W 4 St-Wash Sq A C E

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Canal St A C E

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Chambers St A C

  • upgrade to public announcement system

World Trade Center E

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Lexington Av/59 St N R W

  • elevator or ramp installation

168 St 1

  • elevator or ramp installation

3 Av L

  • new fencing between platform and track

5 Av 7

  • elevator or ramp installation

Times Sq-42 St 7

  • new fencing between platform and track

Delancey St-Essex St J M Z

  • upgrade to public announcement system
  • elevator or ramp installation

Canal St J Z

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Chambers St J Z

  • upgrade to public announcement system
  • repairs for structural or aesthetic issues

Broad St J Z

  • upgrade to public announcement system

110 St 6

  • elevator or ramp installation

59 St 4 5 6

  • elevator or ramp installation

7 Av B D E

  • elevator or ramp installation

Projects on hold at 14 stations in Queens:

21 St-Queensbridge F

  • upgrade to public announcement system

111 St J

  • upgrade to public announcement system

75 St-Elderts Ln J Z

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Ozone Park-Lefferts Blvd A

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Jamaica Center-Parsons/Archer E J Z

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Sutphin Blvd-Archer Av-JFK Airport E J Z

  • new fencing between platform and track

Jamaica-Van Wyck E

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Parsons Blvd F

  • elevator or ramp installation

Sutphin Blvd F

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Briarwood E F

  • elevator or ramp installation
  • repairs for structural or aesthetic issues

Howard Beach-JFK Airport A

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Broad Channel A S

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Far Rockaway-Mott Av A

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Rockaway Park-Beach 116 St A S

  • upgrade to public announcement system

Projects on hold at 1 station in Staten Island:

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Clifton SIR

  • elevator or ramp installation
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