NYC NOW - December 14, 2023 : Midday News

Episode Date: December 14, 2023

The upcoming special election to fill George Santos' seat is poised to be the first test of a new state law allowing early voting by mail. WNYC's Brigid Bergin reports it's a major expansion of how voters can participate in a contest with national implications. Heads up for drivers, only one Staten Island-bound lane of traffic will be open on a section of the BQE late Thursday night due to maintenance. Plus, a bull is on the run and it’s tying up New Jersey Transit service. Finally, we check in with Eater New York food writers Robert Sietsema, Emma Orlow and Luke Forntey who helped pick the winners of its 2023 Eater Award for New York City, including Best New Restaurant, Biggest Surprise and "The Restaurant Where We'd be Regulars.

Welcome to NYC now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Thursday, December 14. Here's the midday news from Lance Bucking. The upcoming special election to fill George Santos's seat is poised to be the first test of a new state law allowing early voting by mail. WNYC's Bridget Bergen reports it's a major expansion of how voters can participate in a contest with national implications. The law will allow voters to apply for an early mail ballot. No explanation required. Up to now, the only option to vote by mail was with an absentee ballot, which requires voters to give an excuse for why they can't vote in person. States with increased mail vote access typically have higher turnout. Barbara Smith Warner of the National Voted Home Institute says it's about centering the voter. Who knows what the weather's going to be like? What is your job schedule going to be that day? Do you know where you're polling places? The law is set to take effect in January unless a court intervenes. Only one Staten Island-bound lane of traffic will be open on a section of the BQE late tonight.

The lane closures are between the Brooklyn Bridge and Atlantic Avenue. Between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., the City Department of Transportation says it's performing maintenance on that section of the expressway. The lane closures will also be in effect overnight and overnight the next two Thursdays, December 21st and December 21st and December 28th. In much less common transit disruptions, a bull is on the run, and it's tying up New Jersey Transit Service. NJ. Transit says trains are delayed up to 45 minutes between Newark Penn Station and New York Penn while they try to wrangle a bull on the tracks near the Newark's side. Path is cross-honoring NJ transit tickets at Hoboken, Newark Penn, and 33rd Street in Manhattan. CBS News is reporting the bull is no longer on the tracks, but it's unclear if it's in custody.

On WNYC, I'm David First. York released its 2023 Eater Award winners for New York City. They pick winners in five categories, including Best New Restaurant, Biggest Surprise, and the restaurant where we'd be regulars. Eater New York food writers Robert Seitzima, Emma Orlo, and Luke Fortney helped pick the winners, and they join us now to highlight some of their choices. We start with a place we've heard a lot about this year. I'm Luke Fortney. I'm a food writer at Eater, New York. And this year's Best New Restaurant, is superiority burger. Superiority Burger is a vegetarian diner in the East Village.

It was opened actually in 2015 as a small burger counter that felt very punk rock. You stepped a few steps down from street level. Now it's in this bigger space, like this full diner with a counter and a bar at the back. They're known for their burger, the superiority burger, which is this homemade patty. Something that's kind of rare now with all these places selling impossible meat. But this is like a patty made from quinoa. It's just great, packed with flavor. There's also another sandwich that's a little different.

It's called the Yuba Verde. And it's made from tofu skins that are sort of folded over themselves on this bun. GQ earlier this year called it the busiest restaurant in America. I can't speak for the rest of the country. but I do know in New York this has been making waves. Hi, I'm Emma Orlo. I'm a reporter on our site. One of the categories on our list this year was the restaurant where we'd most likely want to be regulars. And for that, we put Hayn and Chicken House, a casual restaurant located in Sonset Park in Brooklyn.

They're serving the dish that they get their name from, Hain and Chicken. And here it's in a Malaysian rendition where the rice is served in balls. But they also, I think what sets them apart is beyond their kind of daily, comforting casual dining, they also, on the weekends, add all these specials. So they might do a roche-shafen cake with leachy champagne jam or a yellow-tailed fish curry with muscles in a curry broth with roti. And so beyond just having the kind of reliable cooking that you would want out of a neighborhood spot, they also kind of always are changing things up too. So there's a lot of reasons to keep coming back. Hi, this is Robert Sitsima. And I'm going to talk about the restaurant that was the biggest

surprise this year. And that restaurant is Libertine. Located in the West Village, all the critics, including myself, have written about it. And one of the reasons is that it was a surprise. You know, the West Village is famous for having French bistros, but they're now almost all gone. And so this place appeared, and they have, like, food that is what a bistro was supposed to originally be in the 19th century, which was a little restaurant. kind of like at least partly catering to country people who came to Paris and wanted to taste kind of the common food. And in pursuit of that, they have this one dish called Sauciste puree that blew me away. And all that is is a giant pork sausage on a bed of buttery mashed potatoes

with gravy for God's sake. You know, there's tricks for getting in. The best time is to go right at five o'clock when the place opens, and I don't care what you think about eating at five o'clock, if you really want to try this excellent food, you will go at five o'clock, just walk in and sit down at the bar. You have to plot. You have to plan. Go on a night when the sleet is coming down as thick as frosting on an Intiman's cake. Eater, New York's Robert Seitzema, Emma Orlo, and Luke Fortney with the 2023 Eater Award winners for New York City. And so, some bonus tactics on how to get in. The restaurants they mentioned once again,

Libertine, Hainan Chicken House, and superiority burger. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WMYC. Catch us every weekday three times a day for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

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