Sad. I know so many people selling now. No end in sight to the misery. Seems like back to the future 1970s style. — Lowrider on Catching Up With: Erik Torkells

Miss you at the pool. Actually, I miss the pools in general. They’re still closed. Happy to hear you’re spreading you insights in SB. Loved doing the fly next to you for all those years. Swim a bunch of laps for me. — BW on Catching Up With: Erik Torkells

With more bike infrastructure and bike classes instead of only driver Ed. You may get your wish. But I doubt drivers of cars would stop running lights, and speeding. — Gary Zilmar on Broadway bike lanes going green as promised

Good points about delivery zones. The city somehow allows delivery trucks (what seem to be mostly Amazon contractors) to run free distribution centers on the streets and sidewalk -- taking up entire areas with packages, carts, and workers for hours of the day. The sidewalk on our street is often impassable a good part of the day. You have to either walk out into the street traffic to get around, or cross the street. Sometimes it's even blocking the entrance to our building and we have to ask them to move the carts just to get inside. The final insult is the left-behind litter: food trash, plastic wrapping, abandoned boxes. Our building has even received tickets for the litter even though super cleans every day; I've never seen the trucks get ticketed. Is this the price to pay for "convenience"? There must be a better way. — Marcus on Broadway bike lanes going green as promised

Agreed! And this bike lane should start at 14th street, which would protect riders from UWS all the way to the tip of the island (and let’s convert lower Bway to a busway and commercial auto-only, while we’re at it). — Bob on Broadway bike lanes going green as promised

So nice to get an update from Erik. He's living my dream... — MME on Catching Up With: Erik Torkells

No, the word is de Blasio. And sometimes you need to look outside of the NY Times to find out what is happening right here in New York. Or you can read locally the news outlets you disparage: https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-chirlane-mccray-staff-bill-de-blasio-20200819-k6xpljvdgfctvmszo3zij5tpui-story.html https://nypost.com/2020/08/19/de-blasio-mccrays-2m-staff-is-essential-to-fight-covid-19/ — PeterD on Seen & Heard: Ok Uniform still open for business

Who's this EriC? Why should I care about a guy reclining on his neighbor's sofa in Santa Barbara when I am desperately trying to sell my apartment in Tribeca? — Jim Smithers on Catching Up With: Erik Torkells

Hi Erik! That was my boyfriend (now husband) at the West Village restaurant many years ago and I was your super fan! So glad to hear you are doing well in California. We loved TC then and still love it now. Thank you and Pam for caring so much about the neighborhood. — Mortified Girlfriend on Catching Up With: Erik Torkells

One word: Trump. The Daily Mail...based in the UK. Real ear to NYC. — D on Seen & Heard: Ok Uniform still open for business

I want less cars and more bikes...HOWEVER...I want the following along with that: - No bikeriding on sidewalks. SideWALK not sideBIKE. You want drivers to respect your presence and practice safety around you, you do the same for pedestrians. - No bikes running red lights. You want to treated as equals to drivers, you stop at red lights like lawful drivers do. - Every Citi Bike and non-CB bike should have a license plate so people can report bikes doing both. Deliverypeople have to wear an ID vest, why should you be able to ride without ID? — Good bicyclist, bad bicylist on Broadway bike lanes going green as promised

Yes to delivery zones and fewer parking spots! Any time, any where, and definitely there. — malcolm on Broadway bike lanes going green as promised

Also it amazes me that there is parking on both sides of Varick Street that leads into the Holland Tunnel. With the parking on both sides of the street delivery trucks must double park, causing more delays. With a protected bike lane (no car parking on either side) deliveries could be made and we could have a usable bike lane all the way downtown. — GC on Broadway bike lanes going green as promised

Now maybe the bike riders will get the hell off the sidewalks. — Makes You Go "Hmm-m-m" on Broadway bike lanes going green as promised

Farewell Jules and good luck to you. At least you leave knowing the mayor's wife is well taken care of... "Bill de Blasio's unelected wife has been branded a 'disgrace' for having a staff of 14 costing New York City $2 million, including a $70,000 videographer who filmed her baking cookies - while crime soars amid NYPD budget cuts, trash is left to pile up on the streets and 22,000 city workers face job losses." https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8641213/De-Blasios-wife-14-staff-including-70-000-videographer-22-000-city-workers-face-job-cuts.html — PeterD on Seen & Heard: Ok Uniform still open for business

This is great, but why not have this from SoHo to FiDi? Why leave the huge gap between Houston and City Hall? Do people start biking to FiDI at the Southern tip of City Hall? DOT continues to amaze at doing the bare minimum (this should have been done YEARS ago) that they can point to and smile and nod. — DB on Broadway bike lanes going green as promised

With so many businesses closing, DeBlasio destroying the city, mask/social distancing restrictions in place indefinitely, and so many jobs going virtual, I would imagine tons of people will leave this overpriced city. Take a look on Zillow and see what your money can get you elsewhere. I’m headed to Santa Barbara and saving money- a stunning estate on 3acres with excellent schools and beautiful weather. Buh-bye Gotham City! — Jules on Seen & Heard: Ok Uniform still open for business

Because Duane Street is a public thoroughfare not a privateplaza for The Hideaway and Laughing Man, both atrocious with their crowds. No masks or social distancing, blocking or sitting along the sidewalk. I mean I know they don't have seating cuz if that poorly located Citi Bike which should be on Greenwich Street's wide western sidewalk sonewhere below No.Moore but the maskless crowding is ridiculous. Laughing Man has zero excuse for patrons sitting on docks maskless thus spitting aerosols into passersbys' path when they've had a permanent half the year parking space cafe area for years. L'Angolo has outdoor seating on Duane and Greenwich thus is fine. — This isn't Gramercy Park on Seen & Heard: Eataly delivering east and north

very scared of rise in homeless in our area. i was yelled at and harassed by one person on franklin recently. worried we are losing the safety and feel of tribeca — worried on USPS truck set ablaze on Lispenard

What a GREAT idea!! thanks for this I did Storm King Art Center yesterday... we did get our tickets in advance, I became a member which gives you the option of booking more freely (ie, you get your pick of dates and times) AND also gives you a discount when booking It was very organized, they check that you have a valid reservation and then send you to a specific parking (they are separating visitors to different parking areas (our 2 car group got separated)... once there it feels very comfortable. Most people where wearing masks even out in the open ... the picnic areas socially distanced and felt totally ok. There are no bikes to rent, and the little shuttle was not working. Also the main building is closed. All in all it was a good time out of the city. — Richard on Field Trip: Beacon, NY

The answer is: by eliminating the ridiculous municipal regulations. 8,000 restaurants got street and sidewalk cafe permission in a day where it used to take months, if ever!! No need now for input from the CB and its committees, filing with Dept of Consumer Affairs, adherence to zoning, etc. The City Council all but forced deBlasio to follow the lead of cities like Chicago and Cincinnati who had earlier done this. DOB, DOH, etc. can all follow and we can furlough more City workers who will no longer be needed to catalog the data and process and enforce a lot of the silly rules. — James on Tonight is the last night for Tokyo Bay

Great idea. There are so many places which are within reasonable reach. — Bob on Field Trip: Beacon, NY

Why doesn't the city close Duane Park to traffic for the rest of the summer. This could give The Hideaway L'Angelo, etc. more room to bolster their operations. — Jason on Seen & Heard: Eataly delivering east and north

Billy worked 6 and 7 days a week and had some of the best sushi in NYC. I don't see how Tribeca, or NYC as a whole, comes back from the combination of the pandemic and the hyper partisan politics that drive people and businesses away? — AM on Tonight is the last night for Tokyo Bay

I hope he finds a new spot nearby. I have so many memories of great meals at Tokyo Bay! — Nick on Tonight is the last night for Tokyo Bay