Day: November 26, 2024

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle editorial staff highlights images from around the world, photos courtesy of the Associated Press.

The post Our world in photos: November 26 appeared first on Brooklyn Eagle.

The BBA transformed its headquarters into a haven for oenophiles and foodies, hosting a “Wine-Tasting Night” with food pairings.

The post Brooklyn Bar Association hosts wine tasting night with a generous pour of humor appeared first on Brooklyn Eagle.

The arrival of Thanksgiving means a feast of NYC transit service changes for commuters leaving work early or traveling elsewhere for the four-day weekend.

Here’s what you need to know before you go! 

Subways and buses

On Thursday, Nov. 28, Thanksgiving Day, all MTA New York City Transit subways and buses will operate on a Sunday schedule.

There will be additional service on the 1 train and 42nd Street Shuttle in the early morning.

Those heading to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Thursday morning should be prepared for the closure of some station entrances and exits along the route will be closed. This includes some entrances at 59 Street-Columbus Circle and select entrances and exits at Penn Station and others along Sixth Avenue .

Bus service in Manhattan may experience delays and will be affected by reroutes, detours or frozen zones, especially those that travel through Midtown near the parade.

Meanwhile, the 79th Street Transverse Road will be closed from noon, Wednesday, Nov. 27, to noon Thursday, Nov. 28 for both the parade and the inlating of balloons on Central Park West. Buses will not be allowed to cross during this time. 

A, C and D trains will not stop at 81 Street-Museum of Natural History on Thursday from 4 to 11 a.m.

Staten Island express buses will follow a Sunday schedule on Thanksgiving Day.

Subways will return to a regular weekday schedule on Friday, Nov. 29. Buses will operate on a reduced schedule that day.

The Staten Island Railway

The Staten Island Railway will operate on a Saturday schedule on Thanksgiving Day. It will return to a regular weekday schedule on Friday.

Long Island Rail Road (LIRR)

The LIRR will operate on a holiday-weekend schedule with extra service before and after the parade, adding 15 additional trains to accommodate customers traveling to and from the parade that day.

The Babylon and Ronkonkoma/Farmingdale branches will get seven extra trains each. The MTA will add one train to the Huntington branch.

The LIRR will resume its regular weekday schedule on Friday, Nov. 29, with lower, off-peak fares in effect all day.  

Metro-North Rail Road

Metro-North will operate a special schedule with extra service before and after the parade on Thanksgiving Day.

On Friday, Metro-North will operate on an enhanced Saturday schedule with additional inbound service in the morning and outbound service in the afternoon “to accommodate commuters and Black Friday shoppers,” the MTA said, with lower off-peak fares in effect all day.  

Amtrak

For New Yorkers planning to travel out of town and visitors coming into the Big Apple, Amtrak is deploying extra cars to its Northeast Regional trains and increasing trip frequencies through Dec. 2 between several popular destinations along the Northeast Corridor (NEC), including Washington, DC, Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston, among others. Visit amtrak.com for details and seat availability.

What to expect on Saturday and Sunday

All subways, buses, the LIRR and the Staten Island Railway will return to their regular weekend schedules on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 30-Dec. 1.

Metro-North will also operate extra “Shopper Specials” on the New Haven Line into Manhattan in the morning and returning in the late afternoon and evening to “accommodate shoppers and sightseers,” the MTA said. 

For more information about Thanksgiving holiday travel, visit mta.info.

THE FELINE-THEMED Brooklyn Cat Cafe at 76 Montague Street will be launching its first-ever Winter Art Benefit on Thursday, Dec. 5.

The post Brooklyn Cat Cafe to host Winter Art Benefit on Dec. 5 appeared first on Brooklyn Eagle.

New York City leads the United States in formerly industrial and retail spaces being converted into self storage over the last decade, according to a report by the self storage listing site Storage Cafe.

In addition to having an abundance of industrial, commercial and office buildings that have outlived the companies that inhabited them, New York City also has plenty of port warehouses from its history as a major shipping port, providing plenty of opportunities to convert these areas into storage facilities.

Brooklyn leads the boroughs and is second in the entire country in terms of how much space has been converted into self-storage use. In total, over 4.6 million square feet of space have been created across 42 Brooklyn properties. This amount of space accounts for more than half of the borough’s total of 8.9 million square feet of storage space. Only Chicago, Illinois, has seen more properties and space converted, with 72 properties adding up to 7.2 million square feet.

Manhattan is ranked right behind Brooklyn, with 37 facilities being converted to create an additional 4.4 million square feet of storage space. Even with this factoring as three-quarters of all self-storage in the borough, there is still a premium when it comes to self-storage availability. There is just one square foot of space per capita. As a result, the storage market is very competitive there, with a standard unit costing an average of $241 a month, significantly higher than the national average of $136.

The Bronx is third among the New York City boroughs and fifth in the country in terms of self-storage space, finishing behind Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The 21 converted facilities add up to 2.1 million square feet of space. There is also a cost advantage for these facilities, which make up one-third of the total number in the borough. The average price per square foot is $6 for the converted facilities, which is four times cheaper than that of the facilities already functioning. This has also translated to a 17% decrease in the cost of rent, $165 in the converted facilities compared to $199 in the purpose-built properties.

Queens has also contributed a lot to New York City, leading the nation in facilities being converted for self-storage. A total of 15 facilities spanning 1.4 million square feet have been converted in the World’s Borough. However, there are still a lot more purpose-built buildings, as the converted facilities only account for 18% of the total. Converted facilities are still much cheaper in the borough than those built for storage, at $5 per square foot compared to $37.