••• A Broadsheet profile of Boomerang Toys includes this about the raffling off of a Fingerling, the season’s hot toy: “Anyone wishing to participate is asked to buy a ticket costing three dollars, none of which goes to [owner Karen] Barwick or Boomerang. ‘We’re using the raffle to raise money for Stockings with Care,’ she says, referring to the charity based in Battery Park City that makes the holidays brighter for impoverished families throughout the five boroughs, by purchasing, wrapping, and delivering gifts for more than 1,700 needy kids.” Also, this: “Looking to the future, Ms. Barwick says, ‘I can’t definitely say we’ll be here in five years, but I hope we will.'”

••• “A man slashed two other men during a knife fight […] on the platform of the No. 4/5 train at the Fulton St. station around 5:20 p.m.” on Sunday. —New York Post

••• “La Mercerie, the cafe, bakery and restaurant in the furniture and design store Roman and Williams Guild, which opens* Thursday, is not exactly the kind of place you associate with takeout. Marie-Aude Rose—a celebrated Parisian chef who has cooked at Pierre Gagnaire and alongside her husband, Daniel, at their now-closed restaurant, Spring—will serve what she describes as ‘simple but refined’ French food. But after enjoying dishes like vegetables cooked in saffron broth beneath a puff pastry dome or buckwheat crepes with seafood in a sauce Nantua, diners can order something to go: the plates, the napkins, the tableware, the candlesticks and even the tables. They’re all listed on a dim sum-style illustrated card available from the waiter. Fill it out, and the items can be delivered that day—along with, say, palmiers and croissants from Ms. Rose’s adjoining bakery.” (*From the end of the article: “Opening hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. with baked goods, coffee and cocktails; a full menu will follow in mid-January.”) —New York Times