Would You Like Artisanal Sauerkraut And Housemade Pickles On Your Nathan’s Hot Dog? (That’s An Extra Sixteen Dollars, Please . . .)

The Barclays Center looks to the Brooklyn Flea foodcourt for inspiration:

Barlays Center officials are distributing a survey to find borough restaurants and food service businesses that can give a little Brooklyn flavor to the new Prospect Heights arena, set to open in September.

“We are committed to bringing the best of Brooklyn to Barclays Center and to draw on the borough’s dynamic food scene,” said developer Bruce Ratner. “Our goal is cast a wide net to make Barclays Center’s culinary experience as quintessentially Brooklyn as it gets.”

TLC To Finally Operationalize Meaning Of “Cab Light On,” Matching Literal With Metaphorical And Unconfusing Single Ladies

And now your friends won’t have the murky middle ground excuse of “I have my cab light on, but I want to make it clear that I’m headed directly to the garage”:

Taxi and Limousine Commission Chairman David Yassky said Tuesday medallion owners will be directed this fall to start removing the signs and adopting a simpler way of indicating whether a cab is available.

Under the current scheme, the cab-top signs have four different potential meanings depending on whether either or both the off-duty lights and the medallion number light are illuminated.

“It’s far too confusing for the average rider,” Yassky told the Daily News.

Under the new system, the cab-top signs will have only two potential meanings: available if the medallion number is lit, or unavailable if it’s dark.

. . .

For those [. . .] who don’t know what the current system means, here’s a primer:

* Off-duty sign on/medallion number off: Off duty.

* Off-duty sign off/medallion number on: Available.

* Off-duty sign on/medallion number on: Available for trips in the direction of the garage cabbie is heading.

* Off-duty sign off/medallion number off: Cab is occupied and not available.

I tell you what though, I had no idea there was a separate category for “available for rides in the direction of the garage” . . . I wonder how many drivers I got mad at for no reason! And does this mean that “I can’t take you to the airport because I’m only going to the garage” is no longer a valid excuse?

See also: Taxis.

If I Had A Dime For Every Time A Guy Said That Latex Just Didn’t Feel Right . . .

Many restaurants risk significant health inspection points to uphold a higher principle:

“Of course we want diners to be protected, and we know the department of health has a monumental challenge,” said [a high-end sushi restaurant owner]. “But the craft of sushi requires a degree of precision and exactitude in making thousands of cuts — microslicing with speed, and in quantity — and the use of gloves makes that impossible.”

This Particular Corner Of The Social Contract Is So Thin That You Might Just Accidentally Tear It: All We Ask Is That You Try To Stay Sober While On Duty, But If You Do Happen To Drink, Please Stay Far, Far Away From Lightpoles And Telephone Trees

NYPD cops really need something better to do:

A police officer was arrested early Tuesday morning on charges of drunken driving after he crashed his patrol car into a pole while on duty, eight blocks from his station house in Brooklyn, law enforcement officials said.

The Bloomberg Rule: Technology Is Only As Good As The Revenue It Creates

Otherwise, it’s “impractical”. The context of all this is that Sanitation ticket agents have been caught on film issuing tickets for violations that either didn’t exist or were insufficiently investigated. (Do they have quotas, too, or something?):

At the news conference, two Democratic state lawmakers, Senator Jeff Klein, who represents the Bronx and parts of Westchester, and Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who represents Brooklyn, said they would introduce legislation to require Sanitation Department agents to photograph the condition of a property at the time a sanitation ticket is issued.

The agency and the city oppose the bill.

The Bloomberg administration says photographing every instance in which a summons is issued would be impractical and would interfere with the Sanitation Department’s operations.

. . .

Councilwoman Letitia James, the chairwoman of the Council’s sanitation committee, said photographic evidence would save the city money by reducing paperwork and the cost of adjudication proceedings.

“This administration has been all about embracing technology,” Ms. James said. “If you don’t embrace technology in this case, then its about revenue, not sanitation.”

And all of the sudden you find yourself agreeing with Letitia James . . .