••• A writer at the New York Post learned to make pizza at Kesté.

••• “The city has cracked down on oversized Soho shops that have operated for years despite zoning laws prohibiting the mammoth retailers. The city Department of Buildings slapped five stores—Zara, Uniqlo, Hollister, Topshop and American Eagle—with violations for exceeding the 10,000-square-foot limit in the area. […] The violators face hearings and possible fines beginning at $800.” That’ll stop no one. Wouldn’t it be smarter and more efficient to not issue a certificate of occupancy? Also: “Area residents were particularly galled when Nike opened a 55,000-square-foot superstore on Broadway at Spring Street last year. To get around the 10,000 square foot limit, it declared itself a ‘sporting or athletic store’ rather than a clothing retailer.” Why do the businesses get to determine what they are? Is that beyond the capabilities of the DOB? —New York Post

••• “Families of 9/11 victims are outraged that a climactic scene […] in the season finale of Showtime’s ‘Billions’ was filmed at the Ground Zero Memorial.” —New York Post

••• A long profile of Mysterious Bookshop. —Atlas Obscura

••• “The FDNY’s Bravest football team has a pet that’s a chicken. [Pudgie] was found malnourished last month and wandering the streets near a Chicago slaughterhouse while the Bravest were in town for a game. ‘She just hung out with us … We couldn’t let her go. She had to come with us,’ said Jarrett Howe, 31, of Ladder 8 in Tribeca, as Pudgie sat calmly in the arms of Desi DeFrietas, 43, who works in Maspeth’s Squad 288. Pudgie has visited firehouses in all five boroughs.” —New York Daily News