NJ Transit via Wiki Commons (L); Watchtower sign via Wiki Commons (R)

• NJ Transit admitted to extremely poor service this summer–but warned that it probably won’t end until the fall. [NYT]
• Go inside the world Of NYC “canners,” who survive by collecting recyclable cans and bottles. [Gothamist]
• And meet the Brooklyn can collector who’s worth $8 million. [NYP]
• The iconic Watchtower sign that stood atop the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ former Brooklyn Heights HQ was illegal for its entire half-century existence says the DOB. [Brooklyn Daily Eagle]
• Mayor ee Blasio shifted his plan for a 50-story apartment tower on a Hell’s Kitchen NYCHA parking lot from 100% affordable to 75% luxury. [NYDN]
• The Yankees are the only major league team never to have held a pride night at a game, so to mark next year’s 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, they’re planning a special event. [NYT]
  How Brooklyn changed the neighborhood restaurant across the country. [Bloomberg]

Google Street View of 666 Fifth Avenue (L); Coney Island’s Ocean Dreams development via Hill West Architects (R)

• With a wave of bland real estate development, will Coney Island become just like much of the rest of the city–gentrified, but with rides? [The Bridge]
• For two centuries, New Yorkers have loved giant oysters. [Atlas Obscura]
• Kushner Companies finally unloaded the troubled 666 Fifth Avenue to Brookfield, whose 99-year lease will likely give the family enough to pay off its $1.1+ billion debt on the building. [WSJ]
• How Google Maps renames neighborhoods. [NYT]
• Trump International Hotel at Columbus Circle had a surprise revenue jump this spring thanks to a visit by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. [Washington Post]
• Construction is underway at the Brooklyn Navy Yard’s Admiral’s Row site, which means Wegmans is one step closer to reality. [Brownstoner]
• All the restaurants in NYC ditching plastic straws. [Grub Street]

Via NYC Ferry (L); key lime pie via Flickr/cc (R)

• The NYC Ferry’s Soundview and Lower East Side routes will launch on August 15th and 29th. [NYC Ferry]
• What it’s like to live in an SRO, NYC’s original “micro-housing.” [NYP]
• There is a fierce debate going on after a cookbook author claimed key lime pie was invented by the Borden condensed milk company at their Madison Avenue test kitchen in 1931. [Gothamist]
• Some of the city’s most contaminated water tanks are at NYCHA buildings, so why was this erased from inspection reports? [City & State]
• The 24th annual “Greenest Block in Brooklyn” award goes to the stretch of Lefferts Avenue from Bedford to Rogers Avenues in Prospect Lefferts Gardens. [amNY]
• Vote for Central Park’s cutest dogs to make it into their 2019 calendar. [Central Park Conservancy]
• There’s an Instagram account documenting the apartments of rent-stabilized tenants living in the East Village. [EV Greive]

Via Flickr cc (L); Flickr cc (R)

• NYC could become the first city to cap Uber drivers. If the legislation passes the City Council it would halt new for-hire vehicle licenses for a year. [NYT]
• After a week of criticism, the MTA announced a quarterly Customer Commitment initiative so “customers can hold NYCT accountable.” [MTA]
• Target said they’re sorry if their new East Village store’s recent CBGB tribute was “not the best way to capture the spirit of the neighborhood.” [NYT]
• How does Amazon’s same-day Whole Foods delivery stack up? [Grub Street]
• Take a tour and get a vodka tasting at the first distillery to open in Manhattan since Prohibition. [Untapped Cities]
• The Barclays Center is the first NYC venue to ban plastic straws. [NYP]

M42 bus via Wiki Commons (L); via Pexels (R)

• Miami, Boston, LA, and San Francisco–all these cities have more expensive Airbnb rentals than NYC. [Bloomberg]
• And now that the NYC Council passed a bill that requires Airbnb to disclose names and addresses of hosts, their listings in the city could be cut by half. [Bloomberg]
• The M42 bus travels at an average pace of 3.2 mph across 42nd Street, close to the average human walking speed. [amNY]
• Three weeks before his death, Jimi Hendrix opened Electric Lady Studios in Greenwich Village. Local residents and businesses now want this block of Eighth Street renamed to honor him. [NY1]
• Check out this fun graphic of the oldest building in every state. [ArchDaily]
• Take a free walking tour of the High Bridge this Saturday and learn how it brought water from the Bronx to Manhattan and allowed our city to grow into the 20th century. [NYC Parks]
• Photographers James and Karla Murray share the story behind the mom-and-pop businesses featured on their Lower East Side art installation. [NYT]

After its iconic neo-Gothic architecture and copper crown, the Woolworth Building is known by New Yorkers for being off-limits to the public, but Untapped Cities is your source to get inside the landmark. Next week, they’ll be hosting their uber-popular Special Access tour, which takes guests into the spectacular “cathedral-esque” lobby and mezzanine, as well as the cellar level with its abandoned bank vault and subway entrances. You’ll learn about the building’s history, restoration, and incredible interior Art Deco architecture. And for those true history buffs, next month they’ll offer a VIP version of this tour with building architect Cass Gilbert’s great-granddaughter, Helen Post Curry.

SIGN UP FOR THE TOURS HERE!

Photo via CitiBike (L); Photo: Goodwill NYNJ (R)

• The NYPL’s new Culture Pass, a program that gives library card holders free access to 30+ museums, had more than 2,000 applications on its first day (and crashed the site!). [amNY]
• Dentures, trumpets, prosthetic limbs–a rare look inside the subway’s lost and found. [Vice]
• Discounted Citi Bike memberships were previously only available to NYCHA residents, but now New Yorkers who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will be eligible as well, paying $5/month instead of $15. [Office of the Mayor]
• In an attempt to challenge Amazon, FreshDirect is opening a huge new South Bronx warehouse that will allow it to double its business. [Bloomberg]
• Goodwill’s plan to attract young, trendy shoppers starts with a “curated” boutique on the Upper West Side. [Racked]
• A 150-year-old pipe organ in St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral may fall silent. [VOA News]

Photo via Jump Bike Company (L); via Collective Retreats (R)

• As the NYC Ferry hits five million passengers since its launch last year, the first larger, 350-seat boat has arrived in New York Harbor. [NYC Ferry]
• NYC’s first-ever dockless bicycles arrived today on the Rockaways as part of a city-wide pilot program. [Office of the Mayor]
• S’mores around a fire, 1,500 thread-count sheets, and the island to yourself–here’s what it’s like to spend $650/night glamping on Governors Island. [amNY]
• Norman Foster will design pro-bono a new boathouse for Harlem nonprofit Row New York. Designs are expected to be revealed this fall. [Art Daily]
• Union Square’s famed Coffee Shop, known for its model staff and “Sex and the City” cameos, will close after 28 years due to rising costs. [NYP]
• How the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez campaign got its powerful design. [Fast Co.]
• At $1,500, Midtown’s Baccarat Hotel is serving the country’s most expensive ice cream. [CNBC]