Seven years ago, Leah Dixon co-founded a charming dive bar named Beverly’s on the Lower East Side. Featuring a flashy, pink neon sign and artwork on full display, the artist-run bar was the ideal place for people to crowd together and feed off of each other’s positive energy. But once Covid-19 forced Beverly’s to shut down completely, the once lively bar struggled to get back on its feet.  More →

In the early morning hours yesterday after the New York City Council approved the City’s 2021 budget, NYPD officers advanced on Occupy City Hall protesters that had filled Centre and Chambers streets in downtown Manhattan, pushing them into City Hall Park. Though efforts by the police remained largely non-confrontational, many of the structures and stations set up by organizers were destroyed or damaged in the process. More →

It’s said that laughter is the best medicine, but with the cures for coronavirus and systemic racism nowhere in sight, comedians are questioning the role of comic relief in today’s world. More →

If there’s one thing Cris Matos doesn’t miss about her life before the coronavirus pandemic, it’s the way she moved throughout the five boroughs of New York City. The subway, Uber, and taxis used to be her religion. “Now, I can’t live without my bicycle,” said Matos. “I’m afraid to use the subway and I’m still concerned about getting inside a car with a driver I don’t know.” Whenever she needs to leave East Harlem, the first thing she does is plot bike lanes. More →

Hours before the City Council’s vote on the 2021 fiscal year budget, thousands of people took to the streets in front of City Hall to call on council members to make bigger cuts to the New York Police Department. More →

When Kalima DeSuze, founder of feminist bookstore Cafe Con Libros, opened her Instagram account days after the killing of George Floyd, she was shocked to see over 99 mentions. 

“I said, ‘What the hell is happening? What is going on?’” DeSuze remembers. “I realized that someone had sent the list out of books to read and someone then said invest your money in Black-owned business, Black-owned bookstores. My life has not been the same since.”

DeSuze’s “tsunami” of orders for books about race in America was a small reverberation felt across the bookselling and publishing industry in the wake of the killing of George Floyd. More →

As kids all over the city entered summer break on Monday, the New York City Department of Education decided to continue its Free Meals initiative. Originally restricted to students and, subsequently, children, the grab-and-go program was expanded in early April to include adults as well, and will continue to operate this way throughout the season. More →

Last week we reported that Rockaway Beach’s food vendors are returning, albeit only for takeout service. This week, some vendors on the other side of the peninsula, at Jacob Riis Park, have also returned, and the city’s beleaguered beachgoers will be glad to hear they can now sit down with a beer. More →

Dr. John T. McDevitt saw the coronavirus coming. His wife, Anna Grassini, had been hearing about Covid-19 from her family in Italy since February. She recalls one message from her brother about a newspaper in a small town northeast of Milan whose obituaries spanned 10 pages; they usually took up two. It was like a horror movie, she said. More →

What’s worse than a rainy Saturday afternoon? A rainy first Saturday of outdoor dining after months of waiting. 

“That’s a pain,” said Jimmy, a bartender at Kenn’s Broome Street Bar in Soho as people deserted its outdoor terrace during an intense episode of rain. “We’re losing so much clients because of the weather. Usually it’d be crowded, especially on a Saturday afternoon.” More →